The Silver Flash
by Snipa
Summary: Discontinued. Please read "Silver Fox: Redux." This one will be deleted later.
1. Prologue

Yo, Snipa here. I've decided to try out a different line of story.

Yes, my other stories are on hold indefinitely until I feel like picking them up.

As the summary and title entails, this will be a naruto fanfic... and my recent love of silver...

Yes, I will be using many ideas from other authors. Yes, I know that this isn't exactly original. Yes, I know that I do not own anything except my OC who will remain nameless until I say so.

Yes, I also know that the silver fox idea and the near death experience belongs to author Swords of Twilight from the story 'Naruto the Silver Fox'

Any and all of Third fang's OC's Belong to him, and his little 7th sense idea. ---------God, this guy is awesome.

Yes, I know that the 'Kami, Yami' moment during a near death experience idea belongs to evilfrog1. His story 'Bang goes love' is a unique Harem setting, He's pretty good.

I will also be using ************** made by Godo. (hehe, if you want to know what it is, read his story Kitsune of Whirlpool.)

And many other author's on this sight will have had an influence on this story.

I DO NOT like taking credit of others. So, every time I use another author's idea, I will specifically name him/her one time only in the first chapter that has had an idea either exactly like or influenced said idea.

This story will have lemons LATER ON. So it is rated M for safety. (for god sakes people, Naruto is like 12 at the beginning of the first season. I'm not into little kids doing it. Wait till he's like 16 before you go into the whole lemon thing.)

… please don't sue me... or flame me...

and now without further ado, the prologue:

XXXXXXX

Prologue

Konohagakure. A small village that has a population of more then 500 people. The village is run by Shinobi, or ninjas. Each ninja has their own rank of genin, chuunin, and jounin, from least strongest to strongest respectively. It's a quiet village that has a very peac-

"GET THE DEMON!!! WE HAVE TO BURN HIM!!!"

… Okay, not-so peaceful atmosphere.

A small boy, about the age of 4-5 years old was being chased by an angry mob. The mob had pitch forks, knives, and torches. All of them wearing angry faces. All of them thinking with a mob mentality. 'KILL THE DEMON!'

The boy was wearing grey shinobi pants, a dark blue shirt, with a grey sweater coat. The boy had blonde hair, and 3 whisker like marks on each cheek. He had a looks of despair and fear on his face. He was running for his life from the villagers.

Why, you ask? Because they thought he was a demon. The very demon that attacked the village 5 years ago, and nearly destroyed the village in a rampage. The nine-tailed fox demon, Kyuubi no kitsune. The boy didn't know why he was being called that demon.

The boy knew he wasn't normal though. He had a flowing long fox tail with silver fur, and a pair of silver fox ears on his head.

The boy was running as fast as he could, on all fours. He was turning corners left and right, trying to lose the mob. But no luck, since there were shinobi among the mob, throwing kunai at him, to slow him down. The boy turns another corner, only to see a dead end. He quickly turns around to see the mob slowly closing in on him. The all had a dark smile, as they realized he had been cornered. He backed up until his back was flat against the wall. Shaking with fear, he watched with wide eyes as the mob came closer and closer.

A man with an ANBU mask that looked like a bear jumped down from a nearby building. The crowd was frightened, fearing that they got caught, and the boy had stopped shaking.

"What are you doing?!" said Bear to the crowd. He took out a kunai and said, "You should cut his vocal chords, so he can't rant us out to the Hokage!" With that he walked up to the boy, who was now shaking again. The ANBU picked him up by the scruff of his neck, and placed the kunai against it. The mob was now cheering the ANBU on.

The boy felt pain, as the knife cut his throat open. His blood started pouring out. He couldn't think, as people were throwing rocks and sticks, kunais and shurikens at him. He was in sheer pain, as his body was used as a punching bag. He tried to scream, but all that came out were gargles and blood. He saw his world go dark, and he faded away.

XXXXXXXXX

The boy opened his eyes, only to see pure white. He sat up, not feeling any pain whatsoever. He looked around to see that he was surround by a white haze.

"So, your up." said a feminine voice. The boy turned his head around so fast, that he should check for whiplash.

Before him were two women. One woman had red hair, tied back into a pony tail. She was wearing a kimono that was light blue, with soft yellows flower designs decorating it. She had a golden earing in each ear that were in the shape of the sun. She had deep blue eyes, that couldn't be described, calling them beautiful would be an insult.

The other woman had blue hair that was down. She was wearing a deep red kimono with light orange flowers decorating it. She had a silver earing in the shape of a moon in each ear. She had dark red eyes, that had beauty paralleled to the first one's.

The both had an air of absolute about them.

The red head motioned to the boy, "Hello, Naruto. My name is kami."

The blue head then motioned to herself, "And my name is Yami."

The boy, now named Naruto just looked at them in awe. After catching himself starring, he averted his eyes. "So, the gods themselves have come to send me to hell." He looked down in shame.

Yami spoke, her tone even, "What makes you think that we will be sending you to hell?"

"I'm a demon. Everyone in the village thinks it so. They call me a demon, and say that I must die for the evil deeds I have down. This tail, and these ears are proof that I am one." The boy said evenly, though with a hint of sadness.

Kami's heart almost broke at this site. "Dear boy, what are the evil deeds you speak of?"

Naruto motioned to open his mouth, then closed it. After a while of thinking he answered, "I have stolen from people."

Yami - "You did it to survive."

Naruto - "I broke people's property."

Kami - "I would too if I were being chased by mobs."

Naruto looked down in shame. "Please, just send me to hell. I wish to get this over with."

Yami walked forward and lifted the boys chin up with her finger. She looked directly into his eyes. "You have not performed an evil deed to go to hell, nor are you dead."

At this Naruto's eyes widen. "But, I was being beaten by a mob, and I am before you two. How am I not dead?"

Kami smiles. "Because, you have yet to fill your dreams, and your life will be able to change the world for the better if you live on."

Naruto stares at kami, over Yami's shoulder. "How? I am nothing but a demon."

Yami fixes her hold on this chin so he looks back at her once more. "Because, child. You are not a demon, just carrying a supposed one." She said in a slightly darker tone.

"Whatdoyoumean?" he asks very fast. Both kami and yami laugh.

"Take off your coat and shirt, Naruto." kami said.

Naruto does so, not wanting to anger the gods.

Naruto is now standing topless. "Now Naruto," Kami begins, "Try looking at your belly."

Naruto looks down, and lo-and-behold he has a mark on it. "What is this?"

Yami - "That is a seal. It was made by the Fourth Hokage of your village and the Shinigami to seal the nine-tailed fox into you." She lifted he hand up, and touched the seal. When she pulled her hand back, a small red fox came out of it. The fox had a sinle red tail, with white tips on the tail and ears. "This is the nine-tailed fox."

The fox was asleep, though if one looked at it's face, it could see dark red marks going from the eyes down.

"Kina," said Yami, holding the sleeping fox with her hands, "Kina, it's time to wake up." Yami said in a motherly tone. The fox opened it's eyes slowly. The small fox looked at Yami, then bent it's head down. "Don't be like that Kina. You've done nothing wrong."

Kina looked back up at Yami. Naruto was trying to figure out what was going on. First he gets ambushed by a mob, then he gets the supposed Kyuubi no kitsune pulled out of him.

Yami put Kina down on the ground. When Kina turned around and saw Naruto, she quickly hid behind Yami.

Naruto was now stumped. If the Kyuubi no kitsune was so evil. Why was it a timid little fox. Yami spoke to the fox hiding behind her. "Now, now, Kina. He's not mad at you."

"W-Why shouldn't h-he be?" a voice was heard. The voice was trembling. The source of it came from the fox.

Naruto spoke up, "Y-You're a GIRL!" He asked stupifide.

Kami giggled. "Yes, Kina is a girl. And yes, she is the very Kyuubi no kistune that attacked your village."

Naruto looked at the timid little fox. "Why did you attack my village, Kina?"

"Don't you hate me? Despise me?" She said.

"I learned long ago, not to judge before I know." Naruto responded.

Kina looked down, a crying sound was heard.

Kami spoke up, "She didn't have any choice in the matter, Naruto."

"What do you mean, Kami?"

"A man named Madara Uchiha had placed a genjutsu on her, in an attempt to control her. Fortunately, the man failed, but Kina went beserk with animal instinct. The Fourth was reluctant, but he sealed her into you. Sacrificing himself in the end to do so." Kina looked down in shame.

Naruto got up, and slowly walked forward towards Yami, and the fox hiding behind her. When he was close enough, he gently picked Kina up. When she had been lifted, and they were looking eye to eye, Kina was shaking in fear.

A small smile went across his face, "I forgive you Kina." The fox looked surprised, but came out of shock and licked his nose.

"Thank god that's over." Yami held her hand up to her head. "Thankfully, that was nowhere as painful to deal with as a 'Demon Chicken of Doom' moment."

"What's a demon chicken of doom?" Both Kino and Naruto ask.

"Oh, it's nothing. (Cough)crazyguy(cough)" Kami fake coughs.

XXXXXX

Somewhere in an alternate universe, a man in a straight jacket sneezed. "Oh no! The Floor has attacked! Where are my allies, the giraffe and the cluck!" he said as he started to cling to the ceiling.

XXXXXX

Naruto and Kina look at each other and shrug.

"Now on to other business," Yami starts, "Naruto, I know your first 5 years of your life has been tough. So we're giving you an opportunity to try and make things for the better."

"Huh?" Naruto goes. Kina struggles out of his hands, and then moves to sit on his shoulder's.

Kami giggles, "That's so cute."

Yami looks at her disdainfully, "Stay on task, Nee-san."

Kami assumes a cute pose raising her hand up, "HAAAAI!"

Cue sweat drop on Naruto's head. 'Is that really Kami? Or am I dreaming this stuff up?' Naruto asks.

"Anyways," Yami starts, "Seeing as how we can't reverse the damage down to you, we can give you hints clues, tips and tricks. And we'll be giving your body a slight upgrade."

"When you wake up, go back to your apartment and look under your mattress." Kami.

"Your kekkai genkai will have a mental trigger, including of a physical one. All the rest of your body will get only slight upgrades as well." Yami adds.

Kami lifts up a finger, "We can only intervene so much. Sorry we can't do more for you." She adds in a sad tone.

"Why not? I thought you two were the almighty gods. And what do you mean by kekkai genkai?" Says Naruto.

Kina nudges Naruto's cheek and says, "Because they aren't. They are only the gods of this realm. Wait... he has a kekkai genkai?" Yami nods.

"How do you know?" Naruto adds.

"I'm close friends with these two." she adds quickly, looking the other way.

"Will you look at the time." said Yami. "It's time for you to wake up Naruto. When you do, please take care of yourself. Also, your body is gonna hurt like hell, but live with it." She walks forward and pinches Naruto's ear.

Naruto's world goes black.

"Kina, I have given you a physical form in the real world, but all of your power is still inside of Naruto." Kami says.

"I can still access it, correct?" Kina asks.

"Yes, but if he dies you die." Kami adds. Kina gets a sad look. "Don't worry little one. We've given you permission to use that on him."

Kina looks up, joy obviously in her eyes. "Thank you, friends." Kina bows her head. Yami smiles, and touches Kina's head. The fox's world also goes black.

XXXXXX

tbc...


	2. Chapter 1: fate

Chapter 1: fate

Naruto slowly opens his eyes. At first, he's slightly blind by light in the room, but as he gets used to it, he looks around the room. His body was in sheer pain, but it was nothing new to him.

Above him are oh-so-familiar roof tiles in a hospital room. He sees that he's on a hospital bed. On his right is a window with a clear view of the outside world. Naruto looks to his left. A man wearing an ANBU wolf mask sits nearby Naruto, reading a magazine.

The man looks up, so see Naruto staring at him. "Well, hello Naruto-san." the man says. Naruto has fear in his eyes. "Don't worry, I'm friendly." he says, as he pulls his mask off. "My name is Itatchi Uchiha."

Naruto opens his mouth to respond, but finds no sound coming out. Itatchi looks a little sad. "Sorry, I couldn't find you earlier. By the time I got there, they had already cut your throat. Your voice will back back, but not entirely. Even with your amazing healing rate, it will take some time."

Naruto looks sad. Itatchi tries to brighten his mood. "C'mon Naruto-san, as a way to try to make up for me being late, I'll treat you to ramen." Naruto's eyes shine. He nods his head, and quickly tries to get out of bed. "Whoa, there cowboy. Remember you got hurt badly. Take it one step at a time, Ichiruka's Ramen stand isn't moving any time soon." Naruto nodded, and put his feet down on the ground, making sure they worked. He stood, and then almost fell to the ground. Itatchi caught him in time.

When Naruto was confident he wouldn't fall, he nodded to the man once more, and Itatchi let Naruto go. Naruto steadied himself, and then walked towards the door. "What about your little friend?" Itatchi asks. Naruto turned around confused. Itatchi is pointing to a small red lump on the bed. Naruto walks over the bed again, and touches the fur ball. The fur balls jumps, and it turns out to be Kina. Kina calms herself down, and hops onto Naruto's shoulder. She licks his cheek once, and the wraps her tail around his neck for support. Naruto turns around and smiles at Itatchi.

"Why, hello there little friend. Are you keeping Naruto safe?" Itatchi asks. In response Kina yips, and Itatchi laughs. "Well, Come on then." Itatchi hands Naruto his stuff. Naruto grabs his cape that has a hood, to cover up Naruto's tail and ears. Naruto has his tail wrap around his waist, which, with his grey clothes, make it almost invisible. Naruto gently grabs Kina and holds her in his arms, and covers up his body with his cape. His cape is a light tint of blue. Like this, noone can see any of his skin, and Kina is hidden.

"Nice disguise, Naruto-san." Itatchi puts his wolf mask back on. "Shall we go?" Naruto nods, a wide smile on his face.

Both Itatchi and Naruto walk up to the receptionist desk. "Patient code D-6574 will be checking out." The nurse behind the counter nods, and they walk out of the hospital.

A ten minute walk later, they find themselves at Ichiruka's.

"Well, hello there ANBU-san. Oh, well, if it isn't my number one customer, Naruto!" The old guy behind the counter says.

A young women yells from the kitchen, "Naruto!" she runs out of the kitchen. "Well, hello there big guy. Want to eat some more ramen?" Naruto nods. "Well, what would you like?"

Naruto goes to open his mouth, then shuts it. He looks down sad. "What's wrong buddy?" Says the man.

Wolf speaks up, "He was attacked three nights ago. They harmed his vocal chords, so he is unable to speak at the moment."

Ayame, the young women, puts on a sad face. "Oh, that's sad. Well, here I got an idea!" She held out a menu, "Point to the one you want, and then hold up a number telling me how many."

Naruto pointed to beef ramen, and then held up 7 fingers. "That's a tall order, but I'll do it just for you."

"And what would you like wolf-san." Ichiruka asked.

"Two shrimp ramen, if you can." wolf said in a happy tone.

"Can do," Ayame said.

Itatchi removed his mask, and placed it in his cloak. Naruto pushed the hood on his cloak back. Revealing his ears. Kina jumped out of his arms, and onto the counter.

"Well, who's this cute little fella." the old man said.

"I don't know, the fox was with Naruto in the hospital. I just assumed it was his pet." Itatchi responds. As a way of saying yes, Kina let out a high pitched yip.

"I wonder what his name is." the old man said. Naruto held up his hand.

"What is it Naruto?" Ichiruka asks.

Naruto points at Kina and then shakes his head. "I can lip read Naruto," Itatchi says.

Naruto looks at him, then mouths something. "The fox is a girl?" He asks. Naruto nods his head. "What's her name?".... "Lina?".."Lona?".."Kina? Oh Kina, eh?" Naruto nods his head.

Ayame comes back out with 3 bowls. "I have your firsts right here!" she says. She places the bowls done, and only then she sees Kina.

Wait for it....

"OHMYGODCUTE!" And lifts up Kina and huggles her. "What's her name?"

"How can you tell it's a girl?" the old man asks.

"you silly, only girls can be this cute," she giggles nuzzling the fox.

"Naruto says her name is Kina." Itatchi says.

"So this is Naruto's pet?" Cue Yip from pup. Ayame giggles and places her back on the counter, "She's so cute." Ayame heads back into the kitchen. She comes back out with a plate and a small piece of meat on it. "Here ya go, little one." She places the piece of meat in front of Kina.

Kina sniffs it. "Don't worry, it isn't poisoned." Ayame says. Kina then goes into strike pose. Her tail up in the air. Paws in the ready... POUNCE! The meat is torn apart bit by bit and eaten.

"Soooo cute!" Ayame giggles. Naruto has finished his second bowl, and puts it up in the air. "Coming right up Naruto."

"I'll get it," the old man says. He grabs the bowls, and goes into the kitchen. Ayame continues to watch the fox tear the meat up. "Your just as hungry as Naruto, huh?"

10 minutes later, and a full Naruto... okay as full as Naruto can get on 7 bowls, Itatchi has just finished his second. "Naruto could consider going into pro marathon eating contests." Itatchi says. "Speaking of, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Naruto smiles, puts his hood back on, and gets up. He walks out of the shop, and stand in the street. He points at the Hokage monument. Itatchi quickly places his mask on. He walks to where Naruto is, and sees what Naruto is pointing at. "Hokage, huh?" Naruto nods. "Well, your going make make a great Hokage someday."

XXXXXXX

It was nearing nightfal when the group decided to say goodbye to each other. Itatchi placed some money on the counter and started to escort Naruto back to his apartment.

Inside the apartment, Naruto got undressed, and changed into his pajamas. "Good night Naruto," Itatchi says, and closes the door.

Naruto climbs into bed, and covers up. Kina jumps on top of him. "He seems nice, kit," she says to him. Naruto is a little surprised at first, but then nods at her. He closes his eyes, a smile on his face. Kina turns around and turns into a red furball sleeping on his chest.

Nearby, Outside Naruto's window, Two girls are watching Naruto.

A purple haired girl, wearing a brow trench coat, and shinobi shorts with a fishnet skin cover underneath it all says to the girl on her right, "Naruto's got a new cute little friend."

The Brown haired girl on her right, wearing a brown shirt, and has two fang like marks on her cheeks. She also has on a pair of light tan pants. "She is cute."

"How can you tell it's a girl?" Purple asks.

"You silly, only a girl can be that cute." Brown giggles.

XXXXXXX

Naruto wakes up to a morning sun. He feels a light weight on his chest. He sees Kina sleeping soundly curled up into a small furball. He pets Kina softly, and she wakes up slowly. Naruto was surprised to find out that foxes can purr in a fashion of sort. "That feels good, Naruto." Naruto giggles, and pick her off of him, must to her disappointment. Naruto got up, and went through his morning routine.

"Wow, this place is quite a mess." Naruto just shrugs. "Well, first thing's first. I'm going to start training you Naruto." Naruto almost dropped his tooth brush. "But first, you have to clean this messy apartment up."

Naruto got an excited look on his face, and hurried up. It took him an entire hour, but the apartment was clean...er... and passed the fox's requirement. "Okay Naruto, get dressed." He nods hurriedly, and gets into his usual grey outfit. He grabs the scroll that the gods told him was left under his mattress.

"Follow me," Kina says, and Naruto hurries out the door.

30 minutes of dodging people and society, sneaking out the east gate, and running to a secret hideout the Naruto made last year. "Okay kit," Kina starts, "I'm going to be tough on you when I train you. The workout I make will not be easy, but it's the best way to train you. You understand?"

Naruto nods. "Good."

Because the author is lazy, he's just gonna go over in light detail of Naruto's training for the next 3 years. Naruto was trained to the point where he would drop to the ground, and then he was told to get up and keep going. About a year into the training, Kina put a gravity seal on Naruto's back. The seal was in the very scroll that Kami gave him. The seal was made to make him feel a heavier, and was set to 1.3x gravity to start off. At the end of his 3rd year in training, he was at a solid 2.0x gravity. His body was taught, and almost all the baby fat was gone. She taught him how to turn the gravity seal off, and made him practice once a week without it on.

Kina didn't only train his body, but his chakra control as well. Since he had Kina's chakra in him, he could go a lot longer with it, but he didn't have near the chakra control Kina wanted him to have. It took about 6 weeks, but Naruto learned how to walk up a tree without his hands. Kina wanted to try to make Naruto walk on water, but she decided against it. He was too young to try that.

During this time, Itatchi mysteriously disappeared, leaving the boy slightly lonely. Kina had to brighten his spirits by saying that Itatchi just has some work to do, and would be back sometime soon.

She made him learn the standard academy 3. Transformation, replacement, and cloning. Naruto learned the first two in the second year of his training, but for the love of his life, he couldn't pull of a clone.

Kina made Naruto learn how to keep the genjustsu transformation on him, to make him look more normal. He also learned that he could do a full blown transformation to fox form. It was about as big as Kina's form, but he had a full silver coat with white tips on his tail and ears. Kina, who had given in to her feelings at his cuteness, pounced him.

Near near the ending of the third year, Naruto had decided to try and to enroll into the academy. Kina agreed, thinking he was ready.

"Just remember kit, I'm not gonna let up on the training even though you're in school." She says.

"I know, I know, Kina." Naruto says. Over the years, his voice had come back. Slowly, but surely. He couldn't yell, or anything that required large amounts of air, but he could talk at a normal level.

She hoped up on his shoulder. Because Naruto could hold a stable genjutsu on him, he could walk out in the open more often. No one suspected that the fox on his shoulder would be the demon. He told her to keep that a secret as much as possible. She agreed.

Naruto went up to the Hokage's office. One of the safe havens from the mobs outside. The secretary that managed people from going in and out of the office smiled warmly. She was one of the few people Naruto actually liked. In the Hokage's Office, an old man sitting behind a desk was doing paperwork.

"Ah, Naruto," The old man starts, "What can I do you for?" The Hokage asks.

"Hi Ojii-san!," Naruto returns, "I was wondering if I could attend the ninja academy this year."

The old man grins, "Sure thing. You're old enough to enter the academy this year, and I was going to ask if you wanted to join anyways."

"Thanks!" Naruto smiles.

After a few moments, The third hokage hands a piece of paper to Naruto, "Here you go Naruto. Hand this to the lady at the front desk in the ninja academy tomorrow morning. Be sure to hand it in before 9 o'clock."

"Sure thing gramps," Naruto gives one of his trade mark grins. "I'm gonna be a great ninja!" and the boy rushes out the door.

'I'm sure you will, and your father would be proud.' Sarutobi thinks. He then groaned when he looked at the stack of paper that had somehow grown when he talked with Naruto. 'How did Minato-san deal with all this paperwork?'

XXXXXX

The next morning, Naruto hands in his paper to the lady at the front desk of the academy. "Welcome...um." she looks at the paper, "Naruto Uzumaki to the ninja academy. Your class will be in room number 4. Good luck." she smiles at him. (Kinda makes ya wonder why all the secretaries are happy.... )

Naruto walked into the class. He was currently wearing the orange clothing we are all familiar with. (Author too lazy to write out description). Although that was the genjutsu placed on him. Underneath was his normal grey suit, with light blue cloak attire. His Genjutsu made him look more normal. Naruto liked the look of his whisker marks, so he decided to keep them on in the genjutsu.

Naruto took a seat in the third row, next to a boy with black hair, and black eyes. "Hello, my name is Naruto. Nice to meet ya."

Cue sasuke in emo mode. "Hrm... " Kina, who was on Naruto's shoulder, had a sweat drop on her head.

A boy who had fang marks under his eyes, and a light grey outfit walked into class. Kina hid in Naruto's coat at the site of the dog in the boy's coat.

"What's wrong girl?" Naruto asked. Then he caught a whiff of dog, and looked to the door. "So that's it, huh? What's so scary about a puppy?"

Likewise, the dog caught a whiff of fox. He barked at his master. "A fox, eh? Where?" He started sniffing. The boy with fang marks looked at Naruto. He walked up to Naruto, "Hello, you must be an animal user like me." the boy said.

Before coming to the academy, Kina said she was going to act just like a real fox around other people. That includes being scared of fox's natural predator, dogs.

"Hi, Kina here is kinda scared of dogs. My name is Naruto, what's yours?"

"My name is Kiba, and this is Akamaru." He pulled Akamaru out of his coat, and put the dog on the desk next to Naruto.

Naruto looked at Kina, "Come on girl, the dog isn't gonna kill you." Kina timidly came out of Naruto's coat, and sat on the desk in front of Akamaru.

The two sniffed each other a little, and Kina broke the ice by liking Akamaru's nose. Akamaru made a small bark, and the two started playing.

"Looks like she isn't scared anymore." Kiba said.

"Yea, she isn't scared once she gets to know ya."

"May I pet her?" he asks.

"Only if she lets you." Naruto responds.

Kiba slowly put his hand out to let Kina sniff. She sniffed once or twice, then yipped at him. He took it as a clear sign, and started petting her.

She yipped at Naruto, and Naruto said back, "Agreed."

"So, you can understand her," Kiba asked.

"Somewhat," Naruto lied. What actually happened was that Kina and Naruto share a mental connection of sorts. They can block each other. What she actually said to Naruto through thought was, 'I hate the smell of dogs.'

At that moment, Two men came into the room. "Alright class, settle down, and shut up. Welcome to the ninja academy. This is where you'll learn to be a ninja for the next four years. I will be your sensei, my name is Iruka. This man is Mizuki, my assistant. He will be helping me teach you. I will point to you, and you will tell me your name. Okay, how about you first." Iruka pointed at the boy next to Naruto.

"Hrm...." Cue sweat drop from Iruka... "Sasuke Uchiha."

And it went on from there. After everyone had said their name, Iruka went to teaching the class.

'My god, this will be a boring 4 years.' the fox thought.

'Yeap.' Naruto thought back.

XXXXXX

Professor, press the fast forward button for 4 and a half years. (Got it)

Over the next 4 and a half years, Naruto matures into a 12 year old, and continues his secret training. He manages to get up to 3.5x on his gravity seal. He learned how to be sneaky like a fox, and unfortunately, how to be a trickster like a fox. He was known around the village as the prank master.

Kina had Naruto learn how to throw kunai and shuriken. She also taught him how to fight in his fox form. She had him go to the Nara's place, and had Naruto learn Shogi. At first, he was to hyperactive to do so, but over time, he learned how to play shogi, though still nowhere near as good as any of the Nara's. He had played against Shikamaru the most, since the guy was in his class. Though Naruto always lost inside of 20 moves, he had gotten a lot better then before when he would lose in 2 or 3 moves.

His chakra control was tons better. He could not only walk up a tree without hands, he could now perform jutsu's while doing so. Near the end of the fourth year, Kina had him start learning how to walk on water. He has also been learning everything he can from the scroll that the gods gave him, but for some reason, most of it was blank. When he asked Kina about it she answered, "Kami probably put a limit to how much you can learn from it."

Now it has been 4 and a half years. Naruto has yet to learn how to walk on water, but he can go a little ways out before falling in. Kina, on the other hand, was not only in the middle of a pond, but also sleeping there, too.

"Show off," Naruto mutters losing his concentration.

Naruto, once again, falls into the water. Which wakes up Kina. "Hey, kit, that's enough for today."

"Hai," Naruto said, as he was climbing out of the water.

"Aren't the finals tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yea, and, hopefully, I can become a real ninja." He chuckles.

XXXXXX

The next day, the class is bustling. Naruto, walks in and finds a random seat.

Kina's ears twitch. 'Banshee alert.' she think to him.

After 3 seconds, a rumble, like a small earthquake, starts to shake the classroom. Two konoichi, if you can call them that, rush in through the door.

"I WAS HERE FIRST!" said the pink haired one named Sakura.

"NO, I WAS!" yelled back a blonde girl named Ino.

Naruto hold his hands above his head. To everyone else, this would look odd, but he was holding down his ears. Kina doing the same with her paws.

All of a sudden, Naruto got a shiver down his spine.

"HEY! IDIOT, WHO SAID YOU COULD SIT NEXT TO SASUKE!" the pink banshee yells. Naruto looks to his left, and sure enough Sasuke was sitting there in his trademarked pose.

Naruto freezes. The last time he sat near Sasuke, he got mauled by fan girls. He quickly moved to a seat in the back. When he took his seat, he noticed that the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata, was sitting next to him. She always had a red face near him. He guessed she was only having a constant fever. "Hello," he said to her.

"H-hello, N-n-Naruto." she said. Hinata blushed a little more.

'If she gets any redder, she'll pass out.' Kina thought. She jumped off of Naruto's shoulder and moved closer to the heiress. 'Ah hah.' she thinks.

'Find something out?' Naruto asks.

'Yeap, but I'm keeping it a secret for now.'

'huh?'

Hinata sees that Kina had gotten close to her, and Hinata gingerly pets her. The blush slowly fades from her face. Just as her face turns normal, her face then gets even redder, and she passes out. The fox jumped away from Hinata falling forward. 'I knew it.' the fox thinks.

'What'd you do to her?' Naruto asks her.

'Nothing, but I was only proving my thoughts.'

'again.... huh?'

'Nothing.'

Iruka walks in at that moment. "Alright class settle down." The fangirls continue to bicker and fawn over Sasuke. "Settle down." Iruka says with a little more irritation. The fangirls continue on.

Iruka brings up his hands and does four symbols. Goat, Monkey, Horse, Dragon.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP!" Iruka says with his big head no jutsu.

The girls quickly get into their seats. "Alright, with the peanut circus settled down, I can now hand out the first portion of your tests. It will be a written exam."

'Oh, hell,' Naruto thinks, 'My worst subject.'

The tests are handed out, and the written portion was taken. One hour later, they were turned in, much to Naruto's demise. 'craaaaap,' he thinks, 'I only knew half the stuff on that test.'

'Luckily, you can get flying colors on the next parts.'

"Alright class, the next portion of the test if transformation and replacement tests." Iruka starts. The class lined up, and everyone went through it like normal. Naruto passed the replacement portion with flying colors, but his transformation part he kinda had some fun.

"Transform no jutsu!" and cue the sexy jutsu pose. "Ir-uk-a-sen-sei." Iruka falls back with nose bleed.

"NARUTO!" Irua says with his big head jutsu. "WILL YOU QUIT IT?"

"hehehe, you know you like it you closet pervert." Naruto says. Nearby is a red fox with her belly up. The fox looks like it's either laughing or choking to death, no one really knows.

"Alright class, the next part of the test is the weapons test."

Naruto perks up, 'Oh yea. One of my best.'

Outside, the class lines up behind a table with random kunai and shuriken placed on it.

"This portion of the test, you will be graded on how well you can hit one of the three the targets. You will get 10 tries with kunai, and 10 tries with shuriken." The test goes on for a while before Naruto gets called up.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Mizuki calls out. Naruto gets up and head over to the table. He threw the first kunai and it landed perfectly in one of the target. Naruto repeated the process for all of the rest, and scored perfects. He picked up 5 shuriken, and threw them all at the same time. He made 4 of them land perfectly, but the last one missed. He picked up 3 more shuriken and made them all land perfectly. And the last 2 he threw as he jumped up and down. Both landed at angles on the targets. He smiled, "WOOT!"

"Naruto scored 10 kunai tries, and 9 shuriken tries." The spector called out.

"Sasuke Uchiha!" Mizuki called. Sasuke went up, and tried.

"Sasuke scores 7 kunai tries, and 4 shuriken tries." Sasuke glares at Naruto.

He walked up to Naruto, "How did you get so good at throwing?" Sasuke asks.

"That's for me to know, and for you to never find out." Naruto smiles back.

Sakura gets up, and walks over to Iruka. "Um, Iruka-sensei. Naruto was cheating, he had to be."

"What makes you think that, Sakura?"

"Because he scored higher then Sasuke."

"Just because Sasuke is a prodigy, doesn't make him perfect." Iruka sighs.

"NO WAY! SASUKE IS THE BEST!" random fangirl number 13 gets crushed by author.

"fatality" a deep voice calls out.

"Where did that come from?" Naruto asks. Kina just shrugs.

Cue sweat drop on the rest of the classes heads.

The rest of the class went on like that.

"Okay, now that we have your weapons testing done, we move onto the genjutsu portion of the test."

Students were called in one by one, and they came out with a headband or not.

"Naruto, It's your turn."

Naruto gets up, and goes into the room.

"Okay, Naruto," says Iruka, "You only need one clone in order to pass."

"Right." Naruto responds, and performs a few hand signs.

"CLONE JUTSU!" Naruto calls out. A cloud of smoke appears near Naruto, but instead of a healthy clone there lies next to him, a sick one.

Iruka looks at Naruto, "Sorry, Naruto, you fail."

"but-"

"You failed, you can take it again next year."

Naruto hangs his head low.

XXXXXX

Outside, the students that pass are near their parents. Said parents are congratulating their kids. Naruto sits on the swing. He slightly sad that he didn't pass the test. Okay, he;s not slightly sad, he's outright depressed.

"C'mon kit, Let's go home and get a good night sleep."

Naruto nods. He gets up, and starts moving toward the grounds exit.

Mizuki was sitting next to a tree. "Hey there, kid."

Naruto looks up. "Hello, Sensei."

"Hey, don't be sad. There's another way to pass the genin exam."

Naruto lights up. "How?"

"Well..."

XXXXXXX

"HOKAGE!" Mizuki yells, "NARUTO WAS RUNNING OFF WITH THE FORBIDDEN SCROLL!" As he ran into the Hokage's office.

"WHAT?" Hokage starts. He pushed a button on his desk, "I want every available Jounin and Chuunin on the roof right away."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." the voice says back.

Five minutes later, "Everyone, it is believed that Naturo Uzumaki has stolen the forbidden scroll." the Hokage starts. "As such, I want everyone to go out and find him. You are NOT to kill the kid, just retrieve the kid and scroll. GO!"

Sarutobi pinched the bridge of his nose. 'How did a kid with only a few years of ninja skills pass by my ANBU?'

XXXXXX

Out in the woods.

"I can't believe you stole the forbidden scroll. Eh, oh well. What's done is done." says Kina. "Might as well learn from the stupid thing."

Naruto opened it up. Inside were several jutsu. "Naruto, look at this one. This is just what we need."

Naruto looked at it and grinned.

30 minutes later, there is a panting Naruto over an open scroll. "I got it!" he exclaims.

"Naruto!" A voice calls out.

"Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?"

"That's what I should be asking you. Half the village is looking for you."

"I learned a jutsu from the scroll! So do I pass?" Naruto looks up with puppy dog eyes.

"Who told you that you would pass by learning from the scroll?" Iruka asks confused.

"Me!" Naruto and Iruka turn to see Mizuki up in a tree.

"Mizuki-san, what are you saying?"

"Naruto, Hand over the scroll." Mizuki says.

"Don't do it Naruto!"

"Naruto, do as I say, you can't trust Iruka. He's keeping a secret from you, they all have!" Mizuki gets a scary smiley look on his face.

"Don't say it Mizuki! Don't Say it!" Iruka yells out.

"What everyone is keeping from you-"

"Don't!"

"-is that inside of you-"

"STOP!"

"- is the Kyuubi no kitsune! Your a DEMON!" Mizuki throws his giant shuriken at Naruto in hopes of killing the boy when he is surprised.

"I know," Naruto says, and jumps above the shuriken.

"Naruto!" Kina yells out in warning.

Naruto looks up, only to see a second giant shuriken coming at him. He was trapped, there was no way he could dodge it in time.

"NARUTO! DUCK!"

Nartuo closes his eyes. When he doesn't feel pain, he slowly opens his eyes. In front of him was Iruka, who took the blow for Naruto.

"Why?" Naruto asks.

"Because, I was like you. When I lost my parents to the nine-tailed demon, I was always alone. I acted out in class to gain attention, and even wore the same orange suit you wear." Iruka says.

"Who cares," Mizuki says, "You're both dead meat soon anyways."

"Oh yea! Well news flash dumbass! YOU'RE GONNA BE THE ONE BEATEN TO A PULP!"

He makes two hand signs, the second being the cross sign we're all familiar with, "KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!" And from that call, 100 Naruto clones are made.

'You did it kid!' Kina says.

'Clones!? No, these are more then just plain clones. They're SOLID!' Iruka thinks.

…...'Shit...' Mizuki thinks.

For the next hour or so, strange screams are heard from inside the forest.

XXXXXX

The sun rises up, "Hey Naruto!" Iruka calls out from his place by the tree.

"Yes?"

"Close your eyes for a moment."

"Okay." Naruto closes his eyes, and feels a strange sensation.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Iruka says.

Naruto looks up to see Iruka's head band missing. In Iruka's right hand is Naruto's goggles.

Naruto reaches up, he feels the headband on his forehead.

"Naruto, go ahead and drop the genjutsu on yourself."

Naruto looks surprised, trying to figure out why Iruka knows about it, but then reconsiders the fact that Iruka is a chuunin.

"Fine," Naruto says, and a puff of smoke envelopes him.

Out comes our Naruto, wearing his light blue over cloak. Naruto pulls the hood down from his head.

"So that's what your ears look like." Iruka says.

"Yeap." Naruto Smiles.

"Well, Congrats, Naruto. You're a ninja now, so you don't have to hold up the genjutsu anymore."

Naruto brightens up. "WOOHOO, I'm a ninja!" And he proceeds to glomp Iruka.

'Told ya you could do it kit.' Kina thinks.

XXXXXXXX

tbc...

Agh, Setting up the story from 5 years of age is tough. I promise the next chapter will start to branch off a little from the usual story line stuffs.

I want to thank all the authors mention at the top of the prologue for letting me use some of their ideas ^^

IMPORTANT NOTICE: I know that the story isn't original so far, just give me some time to pump out more chapters before you start flaming.

Now, I'm kinda tired of writing at the moment, so see ya next time.

If you see a mistake, please tell me.

A/n: NO FLAMERS ALLOWED!


	3. Chapter 2: TEAM UP!

A/n: I do not own anything except my OC.

First off, I'd like to saw, WOW, my story wasn't up for more then 2 days and it got so many alerts and favorites. EVEN A REVIEW! XD (I'm a small time writer, I don't expect much )

Anyhow, here's the next chapter:

XXXXXXXXX

Chapter 2: TEAM UP!

Naruto had been told to report to the class room at noon so he could be assigned to his team. Kina and Naruto were currently at their hiding spot Kina had showed him years before. The hiding spot was a clearing of trees, with a waterfall and a river to one edge. The waterfall was impressive to watch, and Naruto just sat near a boulder at the bottom of the waterfall.

"Naruto," Kina starts. Naruto looks at her sitting on a nearby boulder. "Even though Iruka said we don't have to use the genjutsu anymore, I think it might be a good idea to stay under it."

"Why is that?" He asked.

"Simply because the villagers are still prone to kill you. Remember what happened two weeks ago?"

"Um...."

_Flashback_

_Naruto was walking around town in without his genjutsu on, because he was only going from his apartment to Ichiruka's. He had on his dark grey sweater shirt and pants covered by his light blue cloak. His hood was on as well._

_As he was moving through town, he took a shortcut through an alleyway to avoid crowds. Unfortunately for him, an ANBU member was patrolling the roof tops of said alley way. The ANBU member saw the kid going down the alleyway, and decided to pick on the kid._

"_HEY KID!" the ANBU said as he jumped down from the roof. "Get over here."_

_Naruto had grown to trust the ANBU a little more over the years, but somehow, this guy was giving him the creeps. Naruto backed away from the ANBU._

_Bad choice._

_The ANBU took out a few kunai and nailed the kids clothing to the wall. "Now I'm gonna get revenge for my family YOU DEMON!" the ANBU wearing an ox mask took out more of his kunai and approached the kid slowly._

_Naruto striggled against the kunai on his clothing. After nearly tearing his clothing off, the kid got down, and started running down the alley._

"_COME BACK YOU DEMON!" Ox said, and chased after Naruto._

_Naruto ran into the street and into the crowd. The ANBU then yelled to the crowd, "GET THE FOX-BOY!" and pointed at Naruto. The crowd immediately went into panic, and either ran for cover or ran for weapons. Others tried to grab the fox-boy._

_'KIT, WE WONT LAST LONG! DEACTIVATE THE GRAVITY SEAL AND RUN FOR IT!' she yelled at him mentally. Naruto did just that, and start running for the Hokage's office._

_When the crowd was this rilled, the only safe haven was by the old man. The ANBU easily kept up with him, and a few jounin and chuunin were on his tail, too. Naruto dodge shuriken and kunai sent his way. His clothes were starting to get ragged and torn to pieces. Sometimes, a jounin would get close enough, and kicked of punch the boy. A few dozen cuts were covering his body. He turned the last corner, the Hokage's tower right in front of him._

"_HEEEELLLP!" Naruto called out, and sure enough, the wolf and snake mask ANBU that befriended him picked him up, and went for the Hokage's office._

_All in all, Naruto ended up with 14 kunai and shuriken stuck in various parts of his body, and had to be sent to the hospital with a few broken ribs for ½ a day. The ANBU got punished of course, but the jounin and chuunin were never found._

_Flashback ended_

Naruto shivered, "Good point, Kina." he got up, and did a few handsigns. After the 5th one, a cloud covered his body, and he was in his ugly orange again. "Shall we head into town and get something to eat?"

Kina nodded and got on top of his head. "Let's see," Kina said, "It's about 9 o'clock now, we have 2 and a half hours to burn before heading to your classroom."

"Okay, plenty of time to eat." he said as he got a big grin on his face.

XXXXXXX

At Ichiruka's place, Naruto was sitting down and enjoying his 13th bowl of ramen.

'You know, Naurto,' Kina thought, 'eating all that ramen CAN'T be health for you.'

'I don't care, it's too yummy,' the ramen addict thought back. 'Besides, you seem more then content with that piece of steak Ayame-chan got you.' Naruto chuckled.

Said piece of steak was currently destroyed and torn into itty-bitty pieces all over the plate, and Kina was taking in one piece at a time. Her oculars went flat against her skull and look crossed at Naruto. She thought back, 'Shut it, kit.'

Ayame was currently giggling like a little school girl watching Kina eat, and would once or twice scratch the fox behind her ears. 'SO CUTE.'

'I gotta ask one question that's been on my mind for a while now.' Naruto kept eating like it was natrual to eat and … think/talk at the same time.

'Okay, what is it?' Kina thought back.

'How come your so small? I mean your about as big as a 3 month old pup.'

At this Kina stopped for a second, and then continued on eating. 'It's because I only have one tail going at the moment.'

'So? Why aren't you as big as an adult fox?' Naruto picking up his 15th bowl.

'Well, I'm actually only using half a tail of power, if that makes sense to you.'

'So, you saying that at the amount of power your using can affect how big you are?'

'Yes... and no...'

'Huh?' Naruto actually stopped at this point, then continued on to his 16th bowl.

'Well, to be precise, you're only half right. Yes, the amount of power can affect how big I am, but that does not necessarily mean that I HAVE to change sizes with the tails.' She took the last bit of steak into her mouth. 'I can have up to 5 tails of power, and not even change my size. The only difference you'd see is the number of tails. Similarly I can have one tail, and be as big as any Inuzuka full size dog.'

Naruto stopped eating, and leaned back a little, patting his tummy. 'Okay, I think I understand what you mean.' He used one of his claws to pick at the food between his teeth. 'How many tails can you access right now? And what would happen if you went up to 9?'

'Right now, since I'm still getting used to having to access your body, 6... maybe... and if I went up to 9 tails, you'd die.'

'What? Why?' Naruto went to grab his wallet to pay for the food.

"Your awfully silent there, Naruto." The old man said.

"I'm just enjoying the good meal." Naruto said with a big grin on his face.

'Well, in order to get all 9 tails, I would have to pull ALL my power out of you, and since your body is used to my power, you can't live without my chakra.' Kina let out a small burp.

Ayame looked at the fox with wide eyes. "Um, Naruto," she started, "Can foxes burp?"

"Uuuuuh," Naruto placed the money on the counter, "Will you look at the time! Gottagobye!!" He yelled as he ran off with Kina in his arms.

Ayame and Ichiruka looked at the dust left behind Naruto. "Weird." the old man said.

XXXXXXX

The class only had 8 other people in it when he walked in. He went up the isle and sat in the back somewhere, still thinking about what the fox said earlier... and the fact she burped.

About 30 minutes passed before Iruka came into the room holding a piece of paper. "Alright, settle down. I just got this assignment sheet directly from the Hokage. I'll call out your team number, whose on it, and the sensei you'll be working under." Iruka stopped to see that all of them were there. When he spotted Naruto, he noticed that the boy was still using the genjutsu.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Iruka said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto asked, obviously still not all there.

"YEA, YOU IDIOT! ONLY PEOPLE WHO PASSED THE EXAM CAN BE HERE!" Yelled the pink banshee.

"Hehe," he messed with the forehead protector, "I passed the test when I was given a second chance."

"Yes, he did," Iruka said as fast as he could before his ears were pummeled by the pink banshee, "But, I'm asking why Naruto still has his disguise up."

At this all the classmates looked at him, even the gay emo kid.

"Eh.. hehehe... I Don't know what you mean Iruka," Naruto said with a sweat mark on his head.

"Just drop the genjutsu, Naruto." Iruka said with a growing tick mark.

"Fine," Naruto said with aggravation in his voice. "KAI!" A puff of smoke enveloped him, and he was without his genjutsu now.

The class gasped at what they saw. "N-naruto... what's with the ears?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "Eheh, please, don't make a big deal of them."

Kiba got up and well, "IS THAT A TAIL!?" is all that came out of his mouth.

"Iruka, team assignments.. please?" he asked with a squeaky voice.

"Ahem, okay, on team 7 is Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Kiba Inuzuka led by Kakashi Hatake." a lod "YES!" was heard from a certain banshee. "On team 8 is Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, and Naruto Uzumaki led by Kurenai Yuhi."

'N-naruto is on my team!' 5$ on who said that.

'Hmmm, A Hyuuga, and a fox boy. This could get interesting.' Shino thought.

'Why that sly devil of a third Hokage.' Kina thought.

"And on team 10 is, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, and Shikamaru Nara led by Asuma Sarutobi." Iruka said.

As for Choji and Shikamaru, they didn't really care that much, but a certain Yamanaka was pale as a vampire on a sunny day.

'I HAVE TO BE WITH FATBOY (Hey!) AND LAZY ASS(troublesome)!?' she thought. Clearly not liking this setup.

"You will be meeting your jounin instructors an hour, so I would advise you guys wait here." Iruka left the door, and the group waited for their jounin.

Naruto got a bright idea. "Hey, Shino-san, Hinata-chan, come over here by me. Why don't we get to know each other a little more."

While hinata was looking a little darker then a tomato, Shino got up and sat next to Naruto, and after a few moments of gaining self-preservation, Hinata joined them, too.

"Hello, Naruto-san, Hinata-san." Shino said first, "I believe it is logical to agree with what you said Naruto. We should know a little more about each other." Naruto just nodded.

Both shino and Naruto talked for a while. Hinata was just happy to be near a certain dense blond.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto began, "What's wrong? You've been quiet this whole time."

"Naruto-san, according to body reactions, and her posture, I think she just wants to be left alone for a bit."

Naruto just looked at her, but then shrugged.

After 30 more minutes of talking, the door to the classroom opened. In walked two people. The first was a tall man of a well built body, and dark tanned skin. He had brown eyes, and black hair. The pants and long sleeved shirt were blue, and he had on a jounin vest. On his waste was a sash with a kanji symbol on it. He had bandaged ankles and standard shinobi sandles.

The second person was a women with nice curves. She had a nice light tan, and some light make-up. She wore a dress that looked like it was made of several sashes, and her right arm was covered in a red sleeve. She had dark red eyes, and slightly wild hair.

The man spoke up, "Team 10, you're with me." and Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji all got up and left with him.

After they left, the women spoke up, "Team 8, you're with me." Naruto, Shino, and Hinata got up, and left with him, leaving the last team alone.

When they were outside the academy, the women turned on her heel, and then looked at the three. "Okay, team 8. Meet me at training ground 8 in 10 minutes." and with that, she poofed away.

The three team members then rushed as fast as they could to the training ground. The reason for this was that the training ground was on the other side of the village. When they exited the south east gate, the hit the tree tops in hopes of keeping time.

The three made it to training ground 8 with 3 seconds to spare.

"Not bad," she said. She waited a few moments for them get their breath.

"Okay team 8, I want you all to tell me about yourselves. Your names, your hobbies, your likes, dislikes, and your dreams for the future. I'll go first. My name is Kurenai Yuhi. I like reading, genjutsu, picking flowers, and growing plants. I dislike people who think that women can't be strong, and people who don't look past people's looks. My hobbies are gardening, learning more about genjutsu, and reading. My dreams for the future are to become the best genjutsu specialist, and to get you three to jounin." She looked at Shino and said, "You first sunglass boy."

Shino adjusted his sunglasses and spoke, "My name is Shino Abruame. I like bugs, learning about bugs, and categorizing new sepcies of bugs. I dislike people who kill bugs for no good reason, and people who think illogically. My hobbies are learning my family's jutsu and categorizing new bugs. My dream for the future is to become my clans next leader, and making my own jutsu."

Kurenai nodded, and then looked at Naruto. "You're next fuzzy."

Naruto grinned, waged his tail around a bit, and started, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, foxes, like Kina here, ramen, learning new jutsu, ramen, learning how to fight, and ramen. I dislike people who don't try to learn what others are like, and just judge right off the bat, and people who hate ramen. My hobbies are training, and eating ramen. My dream for the future is to become Hokage!" Kurenai nodded.

She point at Hinata and said, "You're next, pale eyes."

Hinata got a little twitchy, but calmed herself and said, "M-my name is Hinata H-hyuuga. I-I like to learn m-my family's j-jutsu, I w-want to become s-stronger so I-I can become t-the next clan leader, andI want to g-gain a-a certain p-person's a-atten-ntion." she quickly looked in Naruto's direction and then back down. Kina giggled. "I-I dislike people w-who don't t-try to get t-to know o-others, and p-people who j-judge before t-they know e-enough. M-my hobbies are picking f-flowers, and l-learning my family's t-taijutsu. My d-dreams for the f-future are t-to g-gain the r-respect of m-my f-father, and to get s-someone else a-attention." She glanced at Naruto again. (A/n:I gotta work on her confidence, typing like this gets to be a pain.)

'My, my, my.... well looky here. I think I got myself a bit of a drama team. A bug boy, a dense blond whole loves ramen, and a shy Hyuuga who's got a crush on dense blond. Ah, oh well. All's fair in love and war.' She smiled, "Alright team 8, meet me here tomorrow at 7 sharp. We'll get some team training done, and maybe go on our first mission. Dismissed." and she poofed away into thin air.

Naruto looked at his teammates and said, "You guys want to go get some food?"

Shino adjusted his sunglesses and stood up, "I thank you for the invitation, Naruto-san, but I have to go to a clan meeting in an hour. I will see you both tomorrow, Good bye." He said, and walked off into the woods back to Konoha.

Naruto looked at Hinata, waiting for her answer. "I-I'd like t-to, Naruto." sha said, and Naruto grinned a bit.

"I've got the perfect place to eat then. Come on!" he said with a waving motion of his hand. She got up, and started following him.

When they got to the gates, Naruto enabled his genjutsu. Hinata looked a bit surprised. "Well, when you look like me, you kinda have to keep it a secret."

She nodded in understanding, and they went to Ichiruka's ramen stand.

"Well, if it isn't my number one customer, Naruto! And who's this pretty young lady?" Ichiruka said, as they both sat down.

"This is my teamate, Hinata." Naruto said, as Kina got out of his lap, and yipped loudly.

Ayame came running out of the kitchen, "KIIIINNNNAAAAA!!!!" she yelled, and practically killed the poor fox in a death hug. "You want some steak, you cute thing you?" she set the fox back down.

Kina, finally able to breath, yipped loudly. "Okay, coming right up!" Naruto was practically on the floor laughing.

"Oh, What do you two want?" Ayame asked.

Naruto, after calming down, and wiping the tears from his eyes said, "3 beef ramen please!"

"And, what about you?" she looked at Hinata.

"U-um, s-shrimp ramen." she said, looking at the menu, but glancing at Naruto every other second.

"Okay," is what Ayame said, but what she thought was completely different. 'Oh, you're after something other then ramen.' She had a sly smile on her face. "Coming right up, you three."

Ichiruka went into the kitchen to start the noodles, and Ayame went in to get the steak. Ayame came back out in three seconds with a plate of steak in her hand. "Here you go, missy. One plate of steak."

As soon as the plate was set down, Kina went into attack mode. Hinata watched the performance, and giggled with Ayame everyonce in a while.

After 2 minutes of the show, the dinner came out. "Here you go. 3 beef ramen, and one shrimp ramen! I hope you enjoy." the old man said, as he placed the food down.

"A show and a dinner, I love this place." he said, as he started chowing down.

Hinata took her chopsticks and took out a little bit of noodles, she lightly blew on it, and too the noodles into her mouth.

Hinata went wide-eyed, and started eating a bit faster. "Well, dad, I think we hooked another customer."

Ichiruka just laughed. When Naruto was down with his three bowls, Hinata put her bowl down.

"So, what'd you think, Hinata? It's good right?"

"Yes, Naurto, it's great!" she said a big grin across her face. At this, Naruto just stared at her.

"Hinata, you didn't stutter." when he said this, Hinata just realized what she did, looked at Naruto, then passed out.

Kina, who watched it all happen while tearing a piece of meat apart, let go of the meat, and went belly up. It looked like the fox was choking on a piece of meat, or laughing.

"Hinata!" Naruto exlcaimed.

XXXXXX

10 minutes later, Hinata woke up again, and she realized she passed out. She went red, and quickly excused herself saying she had to head home.

Naruto just watched her run off. He pulled out his wallet, and went to pay for the food. Ichiruka just shook his head, "Tonight was on the house." Naruto grinned thank the old man, and nodded, he picked up his passed out fox, and left for his apartment.

XXXXXX

Naruto opened the door to his apartment, and locked it behind him.

"Well, that was a very fun day." kina said, as she leaped from Naruto's shoulder. She went over, and hoped up on the bed.

"Yea, you looked happy destroying that dangerous steak."

Her oculars went flat against her skull, and spoke in a deadly tone, "I was acting..."

"Alright, whatever you say, fox-chan." Naruto said, as he took off his second sandle.

He got up, and released his genjutsu, then took off his cloak, and grey sweater jacket, leaving him in his navy blue shirt, and grey shinobi pants. His tail uncurled from around his waist, and hung loosely.

He moved over to the bathroom, to brush his teeth, and get ready for bed, when he heard a strange sound. He looked over to his bed, and Kani was shaking and in a defensive position looking straight up at the ceiling, and she was growling.

Naruto looked up, and saw something REALLY out of the ordinary.

Hanging, upside-down, sitting on the ceiling, calmly, was a cat. The cat had fur design similar to a Siamese cat, with a black face, paws and tail. He was looking down, or rather up, at Kina. The cat then looked at Naruto with it's light blue eyes.

"Hello, Naruto-san." the cat said in an eerily deep voice. The eyes somehow made Naruto very uneasy.

Kina yipped, "What are you doing here?!"

tbc...

XXXXXXX

Well, that's all for now. Join me next time on 'The Silver Flash'


	4. Chapter 3: Natural Order

A/n: I do not own anything except my OC.

Well, I got a few good reviews, and a bunch of new people are watching this story.

I'd like to say, thank you all who are watching this story.

Now on with the show:

Chapter 3: Natural Order

Kina yipped, "What are you doing here?!"

The upside-down cat looked back down, or up, at Kina. The cat jumped up, or was it down, from the ceiling and landed on the bed in front of Kina. The two animals stared at each other for a while before the cat spoke up in it's eerily deep voice.

"Hello, fox-chan. It's been, what, 3 centuries since we last met? I daresay, you haven't changed much."

"Yea, I like to keep my a long distance between me and your kind." Kina snarled.

Naruto sat on the ground, _'Is he just like Kina-chan? Is he a Bijuu?'_

The cat looked back at him, "No, I'm not a Bijuu, Naurto-san. I do not have any yokou or chakra."

Surprise spread like wildfire on Naruto's face. "And to answer you're new question, yes, I can read your mind. It's like an open book to me really."

_'And I can even send thoughts to your mind.' _the cat somehow smiled. It creeped Naruto out to no end.

While he was creeped out, Kina barked up. "Now, can you tell me WHY you are here? Last time I heard, your bloodline was banished from the elemental countries."

"What's yokou exactly?" Naruto asked, after a thought.

Kina sighed, but didn't look away from the cat. "Yokou is what we bijuu are made of."

"Okay, that doesn't answer much." Naruto said.

"If you'll be quiet, I'll tell you!" Kina barked. Naruto tensed up, but stayed quiet. "We bijuu are really just a bunch of compressed energy and spirits. We don't have real bodies." The cat looked straight at Naruto, watching his reaction to this information. "And because of that, we can sometimes become unstable. I was lucky to never really become that till after the Uchiha tried that _thing _on me."

"So, why do you look and act like a fox? Hell, why do all the nine tailed nijuu look like a certain animal?"

"We just do. Every spirit on this planet has an affinity for certain things. My spirit just seem to have an affinity for foxes, fire, and lightning."

Naruto started pondering, but was interrupted by the cat making a cough noise.

"I would love to sit all night, and listen to you ramble, but I have a message for you from Yami-sama." it said. He lifted his paw up slightly, and a small scroll just appeared out of nowhere. Like it was meant to be there.

Naruto walked over to the cat, and picked up the scroll, he unfurled it, and Kina jumped on his shoulder.

_To Kina-san,_

_As you may have found out, I have sent Nilrem to look after Naruto, and his training. Kina, I know it was dangerous bringing him here, and I am sorry for not asking you about it before hand. You know how hard it is to find one of his bloodline, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity._

_Naruto, you are most likely reading this as well. Heed any and all advice from Nilrem, as he is a powerful ally. Just don't piss him off, and you'll get along nicely. Nilrem is centuries older then Kina, and is very wise... if cunning as well. Please be careful when making ANY promises with him._

_I hope you and Kina are getting along nicely._

_With Hope,_

_Yami Shigami._

Several thoughts were flying through Naruto's head. He looked up. "I take it, your name is Nilrem, correct?"

The cat nodded and said, "Yes, my name is Nilrem Gin."

"What do both Kina and Yami mean by 'bloodline?' Do you have something like a kekkei genkai?"

Nilrem just sighed, "As I said before, I don't have any chakra or yokou. What I do have is a lot of chi, or seishin, which is part of what makes up your chakra. I have more chi in my body then the amount of 3 Kinas combined in yokou. If you want to know how much chakra that is in comparison, it would take 6 kages to make up one fully powered nine-tailed Kina. Do you understand?"

Naruto looked dumbfounded. "So, what do you do with all that chi? Surely you can't use it in that form."

"I can use it in a chi form, but not the way you expect. My spiritual control is second only to 10 other people in the world. One of them being my room mate. Unfortunately, our bloodline can't use it normally, we need an activation trigger, which Kina knows about." he said as he looked at Kina, who looked surprised. "Yes, I know about the attempt that Shukaku did to try and replicate our process." Nilrem narrowed his eyes, and the room grew cold.

Naruto couldn't breathe. Don't get him wrong, he's felt killing intent(ki) before, but this makes jounin ki look like puppy cuddling. His body felt hollow, like there wasn't anything in his body. If he even moved an inch, he felt like he would crumble and fall apart. He was just another clay statue. The worst part was is that this wasn't even pointed at HIM. Kina was the center of attention for this ki.

"Don't ever let me catch you trying it either. You saw what happened to him, he grew crazy, and the LAST thing I need to do is take care of MORE of you crazy bijuu." The room grew warm again, and Nilrem looked at the blond. "So, gaki, I want to see how cunning you are tomorrow morning. 6 o'clock sharp, training ground 13. Don't be late." With that, he disappeared. Not in a poof of smoke, not in a blur. Just gone. Like he wasn't even meant to BE there.

Kina sighed, "we might as well get ready for bed. If I know him, he's going to run you ragged tomorrow morning."

Naruto numbly nodded, and got ready for bed.

XXXXXXXXXXX

BEEP BEEP BEE- SMASH! (If Naruto destroyed every alarm clock every day ever since he turned 6 years old, he will have destroyed 2254 alarm clocks by now.)

Naruto got up slowly, as it was 6 o'clock in the morning. He was never much of a morning person, and almost all the time-

BAM!

-he would run into a wall.

Kina, being a bijuu, was used to mornings, and would watch the morning show of Naruto trying to get morning stuff done. Everyonce in a while, the fox would set up traps in the 3 room apartment for Naruto to trip on. Kina had also learned that Naruto would never remembered what happened, so it was pretty much free reign on the fox-boy's butt.

This time, she set up a classic trap of hers.

Naruto walked toward the bathroom, when his foot tripped a wire. The wire then sprung a spring, and a pillow flew at the blond's face; effectively making the blond stumble backwards into another trap where he bumped into the wall, where a water bucket, full of cold water, was precariously placed above him.

"YYYEEEOOOOUCH!" The blond yelled, now fully awake. The water bucket fell on his head.

Needless to say, Kina was laughing so hard she was rolling all over the floor. And, as always, Naruto never figured out how a bucket of ice cold water landed on his head.

30 minutes of cursing later, Naruto and Kina head out the door.

XXXXXXXXXXX

At training ground 13, Naruto and Kina arrived with 5 minutes to spare before 6 o'clock. Naruto sat under a tree, and Kina laid down in his lap. Naruto petted Kina, while pondering what had happened last night.

"So, what is he?" Naruto finally asked.

"If by 'he' you mean Nilrem, if he hasn't told you yet, then I wont either. Nilrem was never really proud of becoming what he is now."

Kina looked down at the ground for a moment, then up at him. "Naruto, I don't know if I should tell you this, but I might as well. There are things out in the world that are far more powerful then me. Nilrem is of one of these great clans. I say clan, because there isn't another way to say it, but it's not really a clan. I guess you could call it more of a bunch of families, all originating from two sick minded people."

"Huh?"

Nilrem appeared at that moment. "My specific bloodline is the S_ilver Time _line, if I translated it into your language."

"What do you mean, 'translated into your language'?" For as long as Naruto can remember, there has only been one language in the elemental countries.

Kina spoke up, "As I said before, the world doesn't revolve around the elemental countries. There are other dimensions, which SOME of your summons come from, and the other side of the world, which is unknown to this one. It isn't surprising that there would be different languages that people would speak and write in."

Nilrem, having enough talk for now said, "Alright lad. It's time to see if you can pull your own weight. I want you to through everything you've got at me."

"You know he wont hit you." Kina said.

"Which is why I'm telling him to throw everything at me." Nilrem said.

Naruto got up, and pressed his fingers into the cross sign. "KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Several Naruto's popped from puff of smoked, surrounding the lone cat. "But I didn't say I wouldn't fight back." the cat smirked.

A Naruto clone charged at the cat, while the rest watch to learn just what they were up against. Nilrem lifted one of his paws, and a single claw popped out. Nilrem then did a side flip, and tore a huge gash into the charging clone's stomach. The movement was so fast, that Naruto could barely see it.

Nilrem landed gracefully, as the clone popped out of existence. "Is that all you've got?" he asked.

"Not even close." Naruto said.

"Gaki," Kina said, "It might be a smart idea to deactivate the gravity seal."

Naruto nodded, and performed three hand signs. He felt a lot lighter, and felt more confident. A bunch of Naruto's then charged the cat. One performed a sliding kick, while 2 others were coming from the air to kick downwards. Two more were punching from opposite sides. Nilrem simply blinked, and then several wisps of what looked like a haze flew from the cat, and collided into all the Naruto clone's simultaneously. All of them popped out of exhistence. "Well, the boy knows how to plan his attacks, that's for sure." Naruto got pissed, and he made himself, and several clones go into fox form. With the gravity seal released, and in fox form, Naruto has never been caught.

'Please, be careful Naruto.' Kina thought to herself, worried.

All the silver foxes started running in circles around the cat. "My, my. I didn't know that the boy could become a full fox. Though it's a bit small."

6 foxes charged the cat, all zigzagging at high speeds around the cat, hoping to avoid the earlier attack. When they were 3 feet from Nilrem. The cat raised his paw, and it looked like he placed it against a solid wall. A silver fox had hit the newly formed wall around the cat, and crash landed into a nearby tree. When the other foxes saw that, they backed up. "Smart fox. Using your clones to go in first, and figure out what's going on."

The ground behind the cat suddenly broke, and a fox popped out of the ground. The fox's jaws were wide open, hoping to take the cat by biting into the neck.

Nilrem didn't even move, but the fox was stopped in midair. Nilrem turned around and looked into the fox's eyes. "You almost had me, you sly fox." a happy tune playing in the ears. The fox was gently put down on the ground. "Cunning, just like a fox should be. Thinking on his feet, and using the resources nearby to his advantage."

All the other foxes vanished except the one in front of Nilrem. The fox then turned into Naruto again. "Argh, I almost had you."

A chuckle could be heard from the cat, "You pass. You're obviously bright enough to learn a few techniques from me."

Kina came out from under the tree, "What could you possibly teach him?" she asked. "You don't know any chakra techniques, just your line's blood powered abilities."

"Ah, but one or more of my abilities can be changed into a chakra based one." the cat said with a know-it-all tone.

Naruto looked at the sun, "While it was great being beaten by a cat, I need to ge-"

"Go ahead, boy, I'll meet you after your training with Kurenai." Nilrem said.

Kina jumped on Naruto's shoulder, and they both went to training ground 8.

Nilrem chuckled, "Yes, that boy just might fulfill your prophecies, Kami-sama." Then he simply disappeared from sight.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, Kina," Naruto said as he jumped from tree to tree to get to training ground 8.

"Yes?"

"Why are you always so tense when we are near Nilrem?"

Kina sighed, "Is it really that noticeable?"

"Kinda."

"Well, to tell you the truth, there are things out there that scare even us bijuu."

"Huh?"

Kina hopped off of Naruto's shoulder, and began to tree jump along side him. "I'm saying, there are things so much more powerful then us bijuu, that we can't comprehend it."

"You can make tsunamis with a flick of your tail, what makes Nilrem so scary?"

"Yes, you are right. But then, you are wrong."

"Again, huh?"

"Take all the power of what I used in my tail to create said tsunami, and then focus into a point so small that even a needle point is bigger than it. That's what Nilrem can do with his power."

"So, what? He can focus his power, big deal."

Kina thought for a moment. "Okay, let's put this in a different perspective. Have you ever had a shot?"

Naruto shivered, "Yea."

"How much force was used to puncture your skin?"

"Not much."

"If you took a kunai, and placed the edge, not the tip, against your skin, would it go as deep as the needle?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, I don't think so." he got a comprehending look on his face. "So, with a smaller point of contact, the blade easily cuts into the skin, right?"

"Yea." Naruto nodded.

"Now think about what I said earlier. Nilrem's power being able to focus large amounts of power into a single point." Naruto's eyes widened.

"You're saying he can puncture any defense?" Naruto asked.

"Pretty much. The wall surrounding Konoha can be easily destroyed by Nilrem." Kina said. "Come on, we can talk about this later, we've only got 10 minutes to get to the training ground."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Hinata showed up early today. She couldn't wait to train with a certain blond. It was currently 6:55, but she showed up at 6:30. She had been watching the sun rise from under a tree.

"Hello, Hinata-san." Shino said as he walked into the clearing.

"Hello, S-Shino-san. How a-are things?"

"I am doing well, Hinata-san. Has Naruto-san showed up yet?"

"No," she looked kind of sad.

"Ah, don't worry. He's nothing like a certain silver haired cyclops."

XXXXXXXXXXX

A man holding an orange porno book was walking down the street. He stopped for a second, looked around. "Huh... for some reason, I think I want to kill a few bugs today."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Y-you're right." Hinata said.

"I think it would be logical to do a few warm-ups before sensei arrives." Hinata nodded in agreement. She got up, and patted herself of dust and grass. They went out into the middle of the clearing.

Hinata did a few leg and arm stratches, while Shino did a few body ones.

After a few minutes of exercises, Naruto came running through the woods and into the clearing. "I'm not late, am I?" He asked, Kina on his shoulder.

"Not at all, Naruto-san." Shino said. "You should warm-up, too. We just got finished."

"Nah, I already did them." Naruto walked over to a nearby tree, and sat down to wait for their sensei. He didn't have to wait long, because Kurenai came in a few seconds after he sat down.

"Hello, team 8. Today we're having a little training exercise. You three are to land a hit on me from each of you."

"So, if I got this right, just one hit from each of us?"

"Yeap, but it's got to be simultaneously, even Kina has to land a hit on me."

"SAY WHAT!?" Naruto yelled.

"You have until noon to get me. Good luck." she made a small wave, and then jumped into the forest.

"Obviously," Shino started, "That this is a teamwork exercise, to see if we can work together."

"So, how do we go about this."

"I-I have a-a p-plan." Hinata started.

"Really?!" Naruto got close to her, "Come on tell us."

Hinata was starting to turn red.

"Naruto-san. I think you are making Hinata uncomfortable."

Naruto notice her shiver. "Oh, sorry about that, Hinata-chan."

"It's okay, Naruto-kun."

"So, what is this plan, Hinata-san?"

"Well..."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Kurenai was deep in the forest. Keeping her senses sharpened for the impending attack. _'I wonder what they're going to try. I made it seem like an exercise, so they might not take this seriously.'_

She was jumping from tree to tree, when a kunai struck the tree in front of her. _'Shit!'_ Three more kunai came in her direction. She jumped backward to dodge the incomings. As soon as she landed, she saw even more kunai coming from the front. She jumped to her left, and the kunai passed harmlessly.

She pumped chakra into her feet, and sprang forward to get some distance. As soon as she took off, a net, fixated with kunai at the corners came flying at her. She twirled in the air to change her movement. She flew above the net, and landed on a tree.

"It's going to take more then kunai and nets to get me." she said aloud. She saw a hint of silver flash in front of her, as more kunai and shuriken headed toward her. This time from several angles. She jumped backward, as it was her only way out.

She as she landed on another tree, she felt several finger tips hit her back. She suddenly couldn't move, and fell forward. Several bugs caught her fall, and dropped her on the ground when she was close enough. Once she landed, all four of them landed a hit on Kurenai.

Naruto smiled, "We win, sensei."

Hinata was busy opened Kurenai's tenketsu. Once all of them were open, Kurenai stood up.

"Congratulations. You all pass the test."

"Huh?" Naruto said. "What test, we thought this was an exercise."

"Well, all jounins are required to give their team a test, to see if they are truly worthy of becoming ninja."

"But, we already passed the genin test."

"That test was only to weed out the ones that couldn't become a ninja, this one was to see if you could survive being one."

"Okay. So we passed?"

Kurenai smiled, "With flying colors. It's barely 11 o'clock, too. You three obviously can work as a team." She brushed herself off. "Meet us back here tomorrow at 7 am sharp for your first D rank mission. Other then that, you three are dismissed for the day." With that she disappeared in a bunch of leaves.

Naruto turned to his newly appointed teammates. "I've gotta go do something today, see you both tmorrow." He smiled and then ran back to the training ground he and Nilrem used earlier.

XXXXXXXXXXX

TBC...

Sorry it was so late guys, I promise it's not going to be this late again. I know I had a few mistakes with this one as well, and I even had to redo this chapter 3 times. So please forgive me if something doesn't add up.

Flamers will be destroyed.


	5. Chapter 4: Training

A/n: I do not own anything except my OC.

I'd like to say, thank you all who are watching this story.

Now on with the show:

XXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 4: Tried, but true, training method.

A silver-haired kid was racing through the forest at speeds that could kill chuunin. Hopping from tree to tree, he looked very frightened, and the way he moved seem to be that he was trying to get away from something. He moved, and then there was a crater about the size of a fist where he was a second ago. Many trees had fallen down, around the training grounds.

Now what could make our silver-haired hero scared?

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." A cat sang out, as more fist sized craters were made near the kid.

Simple. Three words: Nelrim's training class.

_Flashback_

_Naruto had just reached the training ground Nelrim and him had used for their fight that morning. Training ground 13 had a nice waterfall nearby, with a small stream. A field of flowers could be seen 30 feet from the clearing that made training ground 13. The trees were big and green, just like the rest of the 13 million or so trees in fire nation._

_Nelrim was lazying about on a rock near the stream. He lifted his head as Naruto and Kina and walked up to him. "Hello, Naruto-san. I see you two made it back no problem."_

_Naruto nodded, "So, what are you going to have me do?" He scratched the back of his head, "I mean, I would love to learn those techniques, but even I know that some of them would take lots of training."_

_Nelrim looked at Kina on his shoulder, "You trained him nicely, Kina-san. He certainly knows what must be done to learn something new."_

_Kina just nodded, still a little tense._

_Nelrim looked back at Naruto. "First off, we're going to do something about that blonde hair. It's not as bad as the 'kill me' orange you wore as a cover up, but it's still flashy."_

_Naruto put his hands in his hair, "So how do we change it?"_

"_You know how you're able to change in between both fox and semi-fox form?" Nelrim stated it more then asked. "Well, we're just going to induce more of your transformation to look more fox then before. It'll increase your senses and you'll gain silver hair, instead of blond."_

"_Okay, and how do we do that?"_

"_I don't, you do. Just imagine what you look like, and then change the hair color to look more like your tail fur."_

_Naruto closed his eyes for a bit, and when he opened them his hair had changed. It wasn't wild anymore, but instead his bangs went to the top of his eyebrows. His hair went down to about his middle back. His hair had changed to a dull grey silver. (A/N: his hair looks like Sephiroth's, only more dull.)_

"_Hmm, looks much better." Nelrim said. He lifted up his paw, and said, "Here," a little strip of black cloth appeared on his forearm. "Take this, and tie you hair. I would've liked it shorter, but I suppose that'll do."_

_Naruto tied his hair so it made a low ponytail. "Is this good?" he said, looking amazed at his own hair in his hand._

"_Mmmm, good enough." Nelrim jumped off the rock he was sitting on. He did a very cat-like stretch. "Now we need to start training you."_

"_Okay..." Naruto was wondering for a while now what Nelrim would make him do. Run around konoha, do push ups, upside down sit-ups, kunai training, and many more things are what Kina taught him to do._

"_I want you to make several hundred shadow clones."_

"_Huh? But i've only just barely learned it, I don't know my limits yet."_

"_Just make as many as you can." Nerlim said quickly._

"_Fine... KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!" he said as he performed the famous cross symbol. A big cloud poofed around Naruto._

"_Hmm, nice. 457 shadow clones on your first try. Very nice." Nelrim said as the dust disappeared. "Okay, I want 200 of you to start to learn how to walk on water, Kina you help them learn it. I want another 100 of you do tree walking. No running at all. The rest of you stay here."_

_A bunch of 'hai's were heard and the clearing only had 158 left. Kina had left with the nebies in water walking to teach them how to walk on water. "Um, Nelrim." Naruto started. "How is this going to help me train?"_

_Nelrim looked happy. "I'm glad you asked, Naruto-san. Did you know that each of these clones, when popped, will give you their memory that they learned in their 'lifetime?'"_

"_No."_

"_hang on a second." Nelrim said. He closed his eyes, then opened them a second later. "Okay, what do you know now?"_

"_That one of my clones was at the lake listening to Kina talking when you... popped... him.... ooooooh, I get it now."_

"_Unfortunately, these clones will only give you their memories of how to do it. If you make them train physically you wont get the muscle tone benefit from it. You only learned that it was really hard."_

_Naruto nodded. _

"_And as an additional note, all your memories will go to the remaining clones as well. So if we just pop the leaders one at a time the other clones learn what the best did to get that way."(A/N: Third Fang I love this idea, thanks for letting me use it.) "If you have 10 clones, and you train for 3 hours. Pop one, the rest learn what that one did, and improve on it. Those clones will then train another hour or so to improve, and you pop one every hour or so. In the end, during a 12 hour training period you've actually gained a total of 10227 hours of mental work, once the final one pops. That's equivalent to 853 days of 12 hour trainings periods by yourself. (A/N: Damn that math was fun XD and before you ask, NO I'm not making Naruto godlike... yet...)"_

_Naruto practically fainted at that number._

"_You can speed up learning things by years in a matter of weeks with this process. But you have to remember, it's all mental work. Nothing physical, except for muscle memory, so you can learn katas, and learn hand movements, too."_

_Naruto was now drooling. Oh the possibilities this one little technique held. "So, what are you going to have these guys learn."_

_Nelrim smiled. "Well, I wanted to show you leaf balancing."_

"_Huh? Leaf balancing?" Naruto asked kind of numbly. "Is that where I stand on one leaf and balance on one foot?" he asked._

_Nelrim... laughed? "No. You, clone, come here." Said clone approached him. "I want you to pick up a leaf, and place it on your palm." The clone did so. "Now I want you to levitate it using chakra." Naruto looked at him skeptically. T he clone forced chakra into his hand, and pushed up with it. The leaf was launched into the air. "I said levitate it, not throw it into the sky." Nelrim then popped the clone with something that looked like a haze. He turned to the rest of the clones. "Now I want the rest of you to try and make a leaf levitate on the palm of your hand. As you saw earlier, too much, and it flies, too little and it doesn't float. NOW GET TO IT!"_

_The Narutos got to work._

"_Now, Naruto." Nelrim said as he turned to the original. "I'm going to be training you personally. We're going to work on your physique, and get you stronger and faster. I wont be turning up your gravity seal, as that is already pushing your body to it's limits at 3.5x. I will be turning it up when you get older, though." (A/N: at 3.5x his body weighs at around 520 pounds. Anymore and his growth will be stunted.)_

_Naruto nodded, "So what are you going to do?"_

"_Tell me, do you remember a girl named Anko?"_

_Naruto thought for a few moments. "You mean the nice snake lady?"_

"_Yes, her." Nelrim said. "Well, I've taking a liking to her trainings methods."_

"_And... what are these training methods?" Naruto asked._

_Nelrim smiled._

_End flashback_

And that's how we learned how our silver-haired hero is getting his but chased by a very deadly cat.

XXXXXXXXXXX

tcb...

I decided to end it here. I know this one wasn't long, but I can't think of anything I want to add in this chapter. The next chapter will be a two month time skip, and much longer. I just wanted to post this chapter sooner and get it out of the way.


	6. Chapter 5: Encounter

A/n: I do not own anything except my OC.

I'd like to say, thank you all who are watching this story.

A/N: Chakra Hops idea was made by The Third Fang. Please read his story if you have time.

Now on with the show:

XXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 5: Encounter

Over the two months, Naruto was trainged to the ground, and then he was told to get up and train some more. Kina thought that the water walking and tree walking exercises were thoroughly mastered, and she moved him on to the next chakra control exercise. Point balancing.

If Naruto thought the first two we're hard, he was in for a big surprise. He was expected to to stand on the tip of a kunai planted in the ground using only his chakra to keep him from getting impailed.. Not only that, but hold a kunai with the tip of his fingers, essentially meaning, he had 5 kunai balanced on each hand, again, using chakra to hold them. Of course, he was only expected to balance on the kunai first, but over time Kina added in the kunai to his hands. He lost many clones to this one, as Naruto clones would often lose control, and the kunai would either spike up into his foot or the clone would lose his hand. (A/n: I couldn't really find a definition for point balancing exercise, so I made one up. If anyone can tell me what it really is, please PM me.)

The scroll that the gods had given him made 3 new techniques show up on it. The first was a small katon(fire) jutsu, which just made a small flame appear on his thumb. The second was a suiton(water) jutsu, which made water move in many ways. Naruto learned that he could do it without handsigns at all. The third was a rather different one. It was a futon technique that could make a vacuum in the air around him, like a shield. He had to do a lot of handsigns to get it done though.

Of course, not all the clones working under Kina was on point balancing. The others were doing a new exercise that Nelrim had called, "The chakra hop." Essentially, Naruto was to use only his chakra to launch him off the ground. At first, it's a little weird to get used to, but over time the clones got used to hopping off the ground with only chakra bursts. Soon, the clones managed to make a fun game out of it. Using the same amount each time, they would launch themselves as high as they could go, and then do some air tricks. Most of the time, they would do flips, other times they would do gravity defying poses in midair. (A/n: I just thought of a way to do something cool with this one... You'll have to wait till the next time skip training period to find out though...)

On the other hand, Nelrim had him learning something new altogether. At first he thought the leaf balancing was yet another control exercise, but he was soon told that it was the first step for, in the words of Nelrim, "two really cool techniques." So Naruto didn't complain. He was expected to balance leaves on all 367 tenketsu points on his body. Normal humans have only 361, but an extra 6 were on his tail.

Meanwhile, the original Naruto was trained with, not only by Nelrim, but also Anko. Nelrim had 'bumped' into Anko one day, and he had 'asked' her to help him train Naruto. So he not only had one, but TWO sadistic beings with sharp pointy attacks chasing him. Needless to say, Naruto learned very fast how to dodge. He had also been getting faster in both speed and reaction time wise.

He was also being taught how to sharpen his already heightened senses even further through meditation. When Naruto asked why, Nelrim just said something about 'tunnel vision' and 'smelling things like glass.' Naruto didn't know what Nelrim meant. Nelrim knew this, and decided to teach what he meant about tunnel vision. Nelrim told Naruto to deactivate his gravity seal, and then told to take all his chakra out of his eyes, and then run as fast as he could in a straight line. Naruto ran into a tree about 100 feet away from his starting point, and both Kina and Nelrim were laughing so hard that people in Konoha could hear them. After that, Naruto stopped asking so many questions.

Now, normally, this would take years just to LEARN how to do this stuff, but because of the infamous shadow clone skill, and getting trained by sadistic people, that sped the process up by many, many years. After the first month was over, Naruto, out of curiosity, asked Nelrim exactly how many years Naruto had 'mentally' trained. Nelrim responded with 'somewhere around 10 years' offhandedly, like it was nothing.

Of course, during these two months, Naruto finally learned why some shinobi dreaded the words 'D ranked mission.' Hinata, Shino, and Naruto had done a lot of them under Kurenai's supervising. When Naruto asked, "Why are we doing all these chores?" He got hit over the head by Kurenai, and then was told that the missions were important to the 'economy of the village.' These words, of course, were lost on Naruto.

Hinata, who still hasn't gotten any ground on getting rid of her stuttering, still stalked Naruto from the shadows. There were times when he would just disappear, right in front of her eyes. She had activated her byakugan several times to look for him, but she had never succeeded in finding where he went after the team was dismissed.

Shino, on the other hand, was still shaking his head of how dense our now-silver haired hero is.

Speaking of which, Kina thought back to the day after Naruto got his hair color changed.

_Flashback_

_Naruto walked up to the teams meeting point. The team's meeting point was a fenced off part of the fields near the stadium. "Hi guys," he yelled out._

_Hinata, who had her head held down and sitting on a bench next to the fence, "He-hello, Na-naruto-kun."_

_When Shino, who is standing next to Hinata, looked at Naruto, he just raised an eyebrow. Naruto was kind of disappointed when he didn't get a big reaction out of Shino. "Hello... Naruto-san." He almost had made it to sound like a question._

_That's when Kurenai walked up to the team. "Hello, team." She looked at Hinata, then Naruto, then Shino, and then did a double take on Naruto. "Naruto?" He looked at her. "What's with the hair?" she asked._

_In a typical Naruto fashion, he just scratched the back of his head. "Well, I got tired of my blond hair, so I decided to change it, a little."_

_At this point, Hinata looked up at him. She paled a little, then grew 5 shades redder then a tomato, and promptly passed out. She slumped down into the bench._

"_Hinata!" Naruto yelled out. She would always turn red around him, but she rarely passed out now, but this was even faster then usual. "Agh, don't pass out on us now, Hinata-chan." He shook her a little._

"_Naruto... exactly, how did you change your hair?" Kurenai asked._

_He shrugged, "I just thought a little bit, and it changed." It was true, he only thought about it. Though it wasn't the whole truth._

_Kurenai dumbly nodded. And Kina? She had passed out from laughing at Hinata's and Naruto's antics._

_End flashback_

Now it has been two months since that day, and Hinata still passes out at first sight each day. How the blond doesn't get it, Kina doesn't know.

Team 8 walked into the mission room, where all the missions D to B class missions were assigned by the Hokage.

"Team 8, reporting for mission of retrieving target: Tora." Kurenai said all business like.

Hinata was holding a cat in her arms. Said cat had a collar on it with the name Tora. Hinata was stroking the cat, getting it to purr slowly.

Shino was just idly standing by, and trying not to look at his silver-haired companion.

Said silver-haired companion was in bandages. Mostly on his arms and face. Kina on his shoulder was trying to hold in a laugh at Naruto's 15th time at trying to catch the cat. Hinata looked over at Naruto, and let out a small tear that her crush had gotten hurt... again. Kina, for the 15th time, felt a weird chakra crawl off of Hinata when the girl was sad. She couldn't place what the chakra was.

Hinata turned around, and handed the scared stiff cat to it's owner. The Damyou's wife then crushed the poor cat in her bust, paid the Hokage and left.

Naruto then mentally counted down. _'3..... 2.... 1...'_ There was a loud cat screech, the sound of something breaking, and the Damyou's wife yelling out, "COME BACK TORA!" as she chased the now free cat down the hall. Naruto sighed, and looked back up at the Hokage.

Sarutobi just chuckled. "Well, seeing as how you completed the mission so fast, I can assign another one today."

"Great, what are they, Hokage-sama?" Kurenai asked.

"Well. We have gardening, painting the house, baby sitting, catching Tora, AGAIN, walking the do-"

"Enough" Naruto whispered, "I'm tired of these missions. When do we get to do a REAL mission? I want to do something that has to do with shinobis. Not some chores!"

Naruto would have yelled out, but for some reason, he still couldn't yell anything.

"Naruto," Iruka started, "Don't talk back to the Hokage like that. You aren't being assigned anything more then this, because you aren't experienced eno-"

"I'm still tired of all these chores!" Naruto said. "Give us a mission that's worth my time, or don't give us one at all."

The Hokage chuckled. "Well, if that's what you want. All of you come here tomorrow, packed 2 weeks worth of supplies. I'll give you a C-ranked mission then."

Iruka and Kurenai looked at the Hokage like he had grown another head.

"Hokage-sama, with all do respect, I knew these gennin in the acdemy. They're just fresh out of there, and you want to give them a C-ranked mission?"

"Iruka, are you implying that Kurenai has not trained them at all, and that you undermine my judgement?" The Hokage asked.

Iruka started to sweat, "Not at all, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi puffed out a bit of smoke. "Still, it is up to their jounin instructor, whether they can except or not." Sarutobi smiled.

At that point, all three genin looked up at her expectantly. She made a sour face at Naruto, but then said, "We'll come in tomorrow, and hear the details before we except."

Naruto got happy. At least she was thinking about it. The group then bowed before the Hokage, and left out the door. Outside the door, Team 7 had been waiting. Before the door closed, Naruto could hear the Hokage say, "Now, you asked for a C-ranked mission yesterday. Your mission is to escort a bridge builder... Come in Tazuna." A man went into the room, and the door closed.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Team 8 had been told to pack the stuff needed for a week, and then was dismissed for the day.

Naruto had run all the way to the training ground's where Nelrim was waiting for him.

"Hello, gaki." Nelrim greeted. "Ah, I see. You're going on a 2 week mission tomorrow. Well, we'll do some light training today." He nodded to Anko. "Sorry, Anko-san."

Anko looked a slight bit sad, "Awwwh. I wanted to get him with senbon today." She knew all about Naruto's secret, and she was trusted by the group to keep said secrets. She almost did do a back flip when she found out that the 'cute fox' she had seen Naruto with all these years was kyuubi, but she learned to love the little 'fox-chan.' Anki sighed, "Okay, well, I guess I'll see ya in a couple of weeks squirt." She disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Nelrim looked back at Naruto. "When you get back, I guess we can start on your new techniques." After he said that, he promptly disappeared like he wasn't even there.

Kina, still on his shoulder, looked at her kit. "Well, kit. I think we should do that light training, and then go pack supplies at home." Naruto nodded and proceeded to do some katas for a new taijutsu style they were teaching him.

The taijutsu was known as Quick Claw. It involved moving fast with high agility to get around your opponents attacks and techniques. Every once in a while, Kina would stop him, and tell him what he was doing wrong, then Naruto would proceed. After a few hours, she stopped him, and they went to his apartment to pack.

When Naruto got there, he immediately grabbed all the stuff he would need. Tent, extra kunai and shuriken, food rations, explosive notes, ect... He placed all the stuff in the middle of the room, and then grabbed a scroll off of the table nearby.

Naruto hadn't been trust training, he also had been studying as well. The things he studied were advanced chakra theories, and, at Nerlim's advice, fuinjutsu (Sealing jutsu). He had been studying the basics of the jutsu itself, but he was still having trouble getting the concepts. Nelrim had given him a book called "Basic sealing theories." When Naruto first opened the book, he noticed all the text and pictures, but then noticed that on the sides were hand written notes with the initials MN on it. The written notes helped Naruto learn a lot faster, then if it were the book text alone.

Of course, when even the notes couldn't help him(Nelrim and Kina didn't know fuinjutsu), Naruto would go to the Hokage and ask him for help. At first, The Hokage was astounded that Naruto had THAT book. He helped him out after a few dead end questions, and Naruto and him would sit down once a week to help the kid out with the theories. The Hokage went even further, and said that if the boy managed to learn the entire book, he would give him the advanced sealing theories book, complete with the hand written notes by MN. The kid thanked him for that.

Naruto placed the scroll on the ground, and then scribed a few symbols on it. He placed his equipment on the circle in the middle and channeled some chakra. The stuff disappeared, and then Naruto picked up the scroll. "We're good for 3 months with this scroll, Kina-chan." He said smiling. His tail was flickering, like a cat would when it was happy.

Kina chuckled, and the two got ready for bed.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, Naruto managed to get up early, and got a new set of clothes he had bought for missions. The new set of clothes were a pair of black loose fitting pants with many pockets on it, A skin tight black shirt with long sleeves over that was a dark, dark red sleeveless shirt. He put on fingerless gloves that had a metal plate on the back of the hand. His normal shinobi sandals were replaced with black boots. His headband, which was usually around his neck, was replaced with a black bandanna that went on his head with holes cut out for his fox ears. A metal piece with the konoha leaf symbol on it was on his forehead. Once he tied it, two long strands used to tie it went down his back along mingling with his silver hair.

Naruto looked in the mirror, and smiled. His silver tail, which had grown to three and a half feet, was dancing around behind him. If he let his tail hang loosely, his tail would drag on the ground, and get dirty. So with that in mind, he learned how to control his tail at all times, and when he didn't concentrate on it, it would dance a little behind him, or wrap around his waist. (A/N: having a dirty tail is really inconvenient. XD)

He activated a few fuinjutsu seals on the wall next to his door, so that people wouldn't be able to break in easily, and left for the Hokage's tower.

XXXXXXXXXXX

When he arrived at the door to the mission room, the team were waiting for him. "Hi, Shino-san, Hinata-chan." He said, as he approached them. When they looked up at him, Hinata grew five shades redder then any other time he's seen her, and she promptly passed out. Shino... just raised an eyebrow.

5 minutes later, and three wake up sessions for Hinata, Kurenai showed up. "Hello, team 8." she said. "You ready for a Mission today?"

"Yeap!"

"I concur with Naruto-san."

"I-I also thi-think we're ready K-kurenai-sensei."

She nodded then knocked on the door. A muffled "come" was heard and they entered the room.

To say The Hokage looked a little grief would be an understatement. "Good, you're here." he started. "I would have given you a patrol mission, but something came up with Team 7's C-ranked mission, and it has promptly become a B-ranked mission. Despite the ranking, the team had decided to continue on with the mission. I would request that you go and back them up, but this is something only Kurenai can decide whether or not to go with this mission." He picked up a scroll and handed it to her. She read it over, while The Hokage explained. "The mission was to escort a bridge builder named Tazuna to the land of waves, there they would protect him from bandits while he finished his bridge. A problem came up on the land to waves, and the demon brothers, chunin level shinobi, had attacked the team. When the bridge builder begged them to keep going, Kakashi had asked the team whether or not they needed to go on. They all agreed, but Kakashi decided to call for back-up, hence, why I'm asking if you wish to join on this mission. Be aware, this mission is a b-rank borderline a-rank mission. Choose carefully."

Kurenai read over the mission specs. She looked at her team and then said, "Guys, I can choose whether or not we can go on this, but you have to choose for yourselves. Let me hear what you think on this matter."

Shino spoke up first, "I believe there will be danger on this mission, but I think we can handle it if we work together with team 7."

Naruto spoke up next, "I vote yes for this. I do realize the danger, but I want to know my limits." Kina yipped. "Oh, and she votes for it, too."

Kurenai nodded, then looked at Hinata. "I-I w-want to g-go on this mi-mission, Kurenai-sensei. I wa-want to see wh-what the sh-shinobi world is re-really like." Of course, she was only saying yes because of another reason, and kurenai knew this, but since it was a unanimous decision by the team, Kurenai couldn't deny this.

She looked back at the Hokage, "Team 8 will accept this mission, and we will leave in 20 minutes at the east gate." With that, the team was dismissed, and Naruto went to Ichiruka's for a quick snack.

After only 3 bowls, he went to the gate and managed to show up on time. The team all looked at Kurenai, who, without word, nodded, and they went out the gates.

XXXXXXXXXXX

After about 20 minutes of running, they run into team 7. "Kakashi-san, team 8 is here to be your backup on this mission." Kurenai said, as soon as she say him. Team 7 was sitting around waiting for them to show up.

"About time you losers got here." Kiba said. "We've been waiting all night."

"We got the mission details not an hour ago. You seriously think that we would be that slow?" Shino said effectively shutting Kiba up.

"Alright, enough you guys." Kakashi said. "We will be moving out now." as he turned to the bridge builder. "Kurenai, I assume you've been given all the mission details?"

"Yes, and we understand that this is a b-rank borderline a-rank mission. We will help you out on this mission." Kurenai responded.

Kakashi pulled Kurenai off to the side. "Alright, I need you to tell me each of your team members specialties."

"Hinata is an expert tracker, and has a deadly close range taijutsu." she point at the pail eyed girl. "Shino is a bug user, and is both a close range, and mid range fighter. He can also track using his bugs."she said pointing at Shino. "And Naruto is a close range endurance fighter. He can also track and gather information with his clones."

Kakashi nodded. "Sasuke is a close range fighter, with a few ninjutsu to back him up at midrange. Sakura is our groups strategist, though she is a bit slow. And Kiba is yet another close range fighter along with expert tracker." Kakashi said. "That makes you and me the only long range capability users in this group."

Naruto smiled. He didn't know just close range taijutsu. He also knew a few tricks of his own, and of course one of these was advanced hearing.

Kakashi and Kurenai walked back up to the group. "Alright, here's how it's going down. Naruto, Sasuke. You two are up in front. Kiba, Sakura, you two will be on the left side. Hinata, Shino, you twol will be on the right side, and Kurenai and I will be on the back of this formation with Tazuna in the center." The group nodded, and they continued on in the new formation.

A few hours after passing the border, the group make it to the edge of a body of water with mist making it very hard to see. Tazuna walked forward, and blew a whistle that had a very low tone to it. After a few minutes of waiting, a boat came up to them from inside the mist.

"About time you guys got here, I was expecting you here yesterday." The boat rower said. "What happened, and why is there so many people here?"

"Long story." Tazuna said. He turned to the group. "This is the only way across to our island. We have to cross with this boat." Tazuna looked them over, and then back at the boat. "Obviously, all of you can't fit on it."

Naruto got a bright idea. "Everyone but Kakashi and Kurenai, get on the boat." They all looked at him funny. "Just do it." he said. They all shrugged, and got on, though the emo was sort of reluctant.

"How are you going to cross?" Kiba asked. The boat was already filled up to the brim, and couldn't fit anymore.

"Well, just push off, you'll see." Naruto smiled. The jounin were looking at him with skepticism, but wondered what the kid had planned.

Naruto whispered, "You two walk by the the boat, I'll bring up the rear." Now both of them looked at him surprised.

_'How does this kid know how to walk on water?' _they both thought. Naruto moved back, then ran forward.

"Cannon ball!" He semi-yelled. Everyone in the boat covered there faces for the inevitable splash, but when none came they looked back up to the water. Standing there on the water was our hero, like it was solid ground, Kina standing on the water beside him.

"Haha, very funny, Naruto." Kakashi said, as he walked out onto the water along with Kurenai. "You didn't say he could walk on water, Kurenai."

"I didn't know he **could**." She responed.

Naruto walked behind the boat, while Kurenai and Kakashi brought up the sides. Sasuke's eyes were twitching.

_'How can some dobe out class me! ME! An Uchiha!' _He looked up at Naruto. "If the dobe can do it, so can I!" he said, as jumped off the side of the boat.

…. Kakashi looked at the Uchiha, currently struggling to stay afloat, then he looked at Kina. "In all my life, I've never seen a fox pass out from laughing, and **still** be able to stay afloat on the water." was all he said about the situation.

Kurenai was giggling, Shino was trying his hardest to suppress a laugh.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled out, as she tried to help the boy back into the boat.

"Be quiet, all of you." The rower said. "Gato has eyes everywhere. Why do you think I'm rowing instead of using a motor." The group immediately got quiet.

"We should be approaching the bridge soon." Tazuna said. That's when a large shadow appeared in the mist.

"Whoa, that huge!" Sakura said.

"Hey, old man." Naruto started. "You wouldn't be compensating for something, would you?"

Tazuna grunted, and Kiba snickered at Naruto's comment.

When they reached the ground on the other side of the water, the group got out, and said good-bye to the rower as he disappeared in the mist.

"Naruto, make a few shadow clones, and send them out to search. I have an ominous feeling about this mist." Kakashi said. "Hinata, please search with your eyes, while Shino uses his bugs to scout. Kiba I want your nose on high alert." The four nodded, and did their own things. Naruto created 10 clones without seals and soundlessly and they scattered outwards. Kiba focused chakra into his nose. Hinata focused chakra into her eyes. Shino just stood there, but bugs were walking away from his feet.

The group walked on for a little while. They reached a clearing, and Kiba threw a kunai into a bush nearby. The group tensed.

Naruto went up to the bush, and grabbed a white rabbit. _'I felt someone here!'_ was all Naruto could think, before one of his clones popped. "Everyone, get down!" he said, wishing he could yell. No faster then the words got out of his mouth, then the group lunged for the floor, with kakashi bringing Sakura down, and Kurenai bringing Tazuna down. A blade spun over their heads, narrowly missing Sakura by a literal hair. The blade spun upwards and lodged into a tree. A man appeared on the big blade. He had leg and arm warmers on his legs and arms. He had white camouflage pants, and bandages on his face. He didn't have a shirt on, and a lone strap was going across his chest.

"Zabuza Momochi. nuke-nin of the Land of the Mist. A-ranked in the bingo book." Kakashi called out.

"Ah, Copy Ninja Kakashi, Genjutsu Mistress Kurenai. What a welcome it is to see you all here, just for me." Zabuza said. "Now, I would love to play with you, but I have a job to do. Hand over the old man, and I'll let you go freely." as he released Ki.

Everyone but Kakshi, Kurenai, and Naruto froze. They couldn't breathe.

_'So this is what a jounin is like, this is a real battle!' _The Uchiha thought.

"I cannot let you have the old man, sorry Zabuza." Kakashi said, as he raised his hand to his headband.

"Ah, the fabled Sharingan. I'm so honored you would use it so soon." Zabuza mocked.

Sasuke looked at his teacher. _'HE has the Sharingan? But how!'_

"Listen up, genin." Kakashi said aloud. "You stick to guarding the old man while we take care of Zabuza. You are to not interfer, this is not your fight. Do you understand me." He said more as an order then a question.

"Hmm, you need to train your students better, they're frozen with fear. All but one it seems." Said the mist nin.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow. She looked back to see that Naruto was the only one to not breathing normally, and keeping his senses up. She quickly looked back up at Zabuza. _'Questions later. I'll have to focus on this guy for now.'_

Zabuza laughed, and made two signs. "Hidden mist Jutsu." He said quietly, as the mist in the area got thicker.

And thus, the battle began.

XXXXXXXXXXX

tbc...

CLIFFHANGER NO JUTSU!

A/N: Decided I need to stop soon, and this felt like a nice spot. ^^ I'm evil like that.

Again, if you see any mistakes, please tell me, and I'll go and fix it.

Flamers will be preyed upon by Kina and Nelrim.


	7. Chapter 6: A Fight

A/n: I do not own anything except my OC Nelrim.

I'd like to say, thank you all who are watching this story.

Sorry that I've been gone for a long time, I've been trying to come up with something unique for Naruto. Needless to say, I think I've got something. You'll just have to wait and see.

Now on with the show:

XXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 6: A Fight

The group were surrounded by a mist.

The killer intent was raised even more, making all but one genin and Tazuna hold their breath.

_'I can't take it,' _Sasuke thought, _'This atmosphere makes me want to kill myself. I have to get away. I have to stop it!' _He brought out a kunai to stab his own throat.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi called out. "Don't worry, I'll protect you with my life, I wont let any of you die." With that the genin breathed easier.

Naruto, on the other hand, was trying to pinpoint the enemy's location.

An mocking laugh echoed in the air."There are eight places in which the you can hit to kill. The brain, kidneys, spine, liver, lungs, clavicle vein, jugular vein, and the heart. Which one will I go after?"

Naruto, as hard as he could, couldn't pinpoint the man's location. It was like the fog made an echo sound all around him. Sure he knew futon jutsu, but only minor ones. None of the ones he knew could displace enough air around them to lift the mist.

He suddenly felt a bigger presence behind him. "Now, the old man will DIE!" As Zabuza let his presence be known to be INSIDE of the formation.

Naruto froze.

'_How did he get there?!' _his mind screamed.

Just as Zabuza was about to deal the fatal blow, Kakashi stabbed the nuke-nin in the back with a kunai. The nuke-nin just chuckled. "Good job Copy Ninja."

Kakashi's eyes went wide. Why? There was water, not blood, leaking out of the Zabuza.

'_Of course, he didn't get in the middle of our formation, he just made a clone pop up here.' _Naruto thought.

Zabuza's sword came from behind and stabbed straight through Kakashi. "But not good enough.... What the.." Kakashi began to melt into water as well. A kunai was then being held to the nuke-nin's throat.

"What was that?" Kakashi asked rhetorically.

Zabuza chuckled. "To have been able to copy my water clone technique at just a glance. That was very good." Zabuza used one hand to swing his mighty sword backwards using the hilt for the hit. It hit Kakashi dead on, and sent the copy nin flying into the nearby lake.

When Kakashi popped his head out of the water, he felt something was off. _'The water doesn't feel right.'_ But before he could pursue the thought anymore, Zabuza appeared next to Kakashi and did 10 hand signs in less then a second, and held his hand next to Kakashi. "Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu." (1)

A sphere of water enclosed itself around Kakashi. "This technique makes a prison out of water, as hard as steel. Don't think you can get out, Monkey." Zabuza raised his free hand, and made half a ram sign. A clone assimilated out of the water. "Now watch as I tear through your little play ninjas."

The clone moved toward the group. Kakashi decided to yell out, "Kurenai, get all the gennin and the old man out of here. NOW!"

Kurenai was about to comply when-

"KAI!"

-she felt wind pass right by her, and saw a blur of grey.

It was Naruto. He was moving a lot faster then she thought he could move. He destroyed the clone in three seconds. It melted into water, as Naurto stared down at the lake, or to be more precise, at Kakashi.

"If there's one thing I've learned by being with my team, it's that you shouldn't leave anyone behind." Naruto declared.

Zabuza chuckled.

_'When did Naruto get so fast!'_ Hinata thought. She had seen the whole endenvor with her Byakugan. She couldn't keep up with his moves.

"You're fast for a pipsqueak." Zabuza said, with his head tilted to the side.

A tick mark appeared on his forehead. "WHY YOU BASTARD! YOU DARE CALL ME SMALLER THEN A BUG!?" (2)

Zabuza laughed loudly.

Kakashi just watched, and hoped and prayed to whatever god that was listening would keep no one from Konoha got killed.

Zabuza made the half ram sign again, and three more clones popped out.

Naruto calmed down. He lowered his voice so that only Sasuke could hear. "Sasuke, can you throw a windmill shuriken with precision?"

Kina, who was on Naruto's shoulder suddenly realised what Naruto was up to.

Sasuke just looked at Naruto, and slowly nodded.

"Good, I have a plan then." He put a scroll down on the ground. He waved his hand over it. Two windmill shuriken popped out. "Throw these at the real one."

When Sasuke caught it, he realized one was slightly heavier then a normal one. _'What are you up to?'_

Naruto took the lighter one in his throwing hand first. Naruto smiled. "Shadow clone Jutsu!" He called out. Three Clones popped out, and ran at the clones of Zabuza. "NOW SASUKE!"

Sasuke jumped up, and flung the first one. At first it looked to be heading for the clones, but as it angled out, it went straight for Zabuza.

"Aiming for the real one, eh?" Zabuza reached forward. "It wont work." He caught it with ease. He heard the same sound that came from one again. "Oh shit!"

The shuirken drew closer, and closer.

"NOT!" As Zabuza jumped right over it. The nuke-nin smirked... that is, until he heard a pop from behind.

"GOT YOU!" Naruto yelled, as he threw a kunai from behind Zabuza.

"WHAT!?" Zabuza ran through his choices. He felt he only had one. Dodging. Zabuza quickly moved to one side, releasing the water prison.

A splash was heard as Naruto landed in the water. "It's your turn, Kakashi!"

"Thank you, Naruto." Kakashi said back. _'Smart minature Minato.'_ he smirked in his mind.

Zabuza just laughed. "So what if you got out." He threw the windmill he caught earlier, but it poofed out of exisence. "What?"

"Oh, sorry," Naruto called out, "That was only a shadow!"

"Grrrr," Zabuza was about to go kill the little brat, but he felt KI coming at him.

"Sorry, Zabuza. But your fight is with me."

"Hmph, Doesn't make any difference." Zabuza was making hand signs for a water jutsu.

When he reached the final sign, he looked up, only to see Kakashi was holding the same sign.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Both of them called out.

_'How!? How did he know which-'_

"-Jutsu too use?" Kakashi finished his thoughts. The two dragons smashed into each other, creating a spray to hit everyone.

Zabuza was starting another set of handseals, only to stop, as Kakashi finished before him.

"Water Style: Tsunami Jutsu." Kakashi called out.

"C-Can you see the future?" Zabuza asked, intimidated.

"Yes," The water around Kakashi lifted up, "And I foresee your death."

The jutsu hit Zabuza head on.

As the water cleared away, a pummeled Zabuza laid back on a tree. He looked half out of it. "I'm not done ye-" Three senbon needles appeared in the nuke-nin's neck. He blacked out.

_'What the heck?'_ Kiba thought.

A young man with a white mask came down from the trees. "Thank you for wearing Zabuza Momochi out." He went over to the dead body. "I was afraid I would have to take him on my own."

"No problem." Kakashi responded. He started walking towards land. Once he reached land though, he collapsed.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled out. She ran over to him, Kiba following shortly after.

"He's alright." Kurenai said, looked over him. "He's just used over used his chakra."

Both gennin sigh with relief.

Kurenai looked up to the hunter-nin, "You can dispose of the body now."

"I thank you." She went over, and picked up the body.

Kurenai's went wide. "WAIT!" she called out, but it was too late, the hunter-nin was gone. "Dammit." She picked Kakashi up. "Tazuna, I hope your house is nearby."

Tazuna numbly nodded, still shaken from the KI that lingered in the air. He looked towards the direction of his house, and pointed, "That way."

Kurenai nodded. "Sasuke, Naruto. You two up front. Sakura, you're on the left with Kiba, and Hinata and Shino on the right. I'll trail behind, carrying Kakashi." She huffed a little.

"Um, Kurenai," Naruto said. Two clones popped up. "I'll get my clones to carry him. We need you to free to move about."

Kurenai nodded. "Okay, but your clones walk next to Tazuna."

Naruto nodded. He looked to his clones, and they moved to pick Kakashi up. One by the shoulders, the other by the legs.

–

Kakashi slowly came to consciousness. The first of him to come back was his sense of feeling. He tested his body subconsciously. _'Good, I'm still all here.' _He moved his right ankle. _'Shit. I must have sprained falling down.'_

Next to come back was smell. It smelt like an old house.

After that, hearing.

"...-ou think that Kakashi-sensei is okay?" It was Sakura's voice.

"Yea, Kurenai said it was only chakra depletion. He should be up soon." Said a voice he recognized as Kiba.

"Hn," … Sasuke.

Kakashi slowly opened his eyes.

Kiba spoke up, "Well, speak of the devil." He grinned. "Welcome back, Kakashi. Had a nice nap?"

Kakshi slowly got up. He winced once. '_Great, chakra depletion, plus soreness. Just great.'_ he though sarcastically.

He looked around the room. "Where's Team 8?" He asked.

Kiba jumped for a second, "Whoops, almost forgot, I'll go get Kurenai, she wanted to talk to you as soon as you got up."

Kiba left the front door.

"How long was I out?"

"A couple of hours." Sakura said. "In all honesty, you shouldn't even be able to move, Kakashi. You suffered from severe chakra depletion."

"I'm a jounin. It's what we do."

Kiba came back in with Kurenai behind him. Kurenai was holding a crutch made of wood.

"What is it, Kurenai? Your eyes are telling me something is wrong." Kakashi said in a light tone.

"Well... I think Zabuza is still alive."

"WHAT!?" The sound came from the hallway, as the rest of team 8 came into the room. "What do you mean, he's not dead!? We saw him get nailed in the neck." Naruto declared. "How in the world is he alive, Kurenai-sensei?"

Kuenrai just shook her head. "Tell me. What did the hunter-nin use for a weapon?"

"Um, wasn't it senbon?" Hinata asked.

Kurenai nodded. "Correct." She looked over to Shino, "And what are hunter-nins supposed to do to the dead body?"

Shino figured it out some time ago. "They are supposed to dispose of the body on sight, to make sure no secrets ever get out."

"So, what does that mean?" Kiba asked.

Kakashi, even though he passed out, figured it out. "The hunter-nin picked up the body. He didn't dispose of it, and the senbon can be used to put someone in a near death state."

Kurenai nodded.

Tazuna came in. "Whatever's going on, I don't care. I'm just up here to tell you that I'm going to the bridge tomorrow to start working on it, so that I can finish my super bridge."

Kakashi looked at his client. "We fear that something came up. That nuke-nin from earlier might still be alive."

Tazuna went wide-eyed, but nodded. "Fine, but I have no doubt you can protect me. Well, enough to keep me alive." He chocked up how they figured it out to _'Some ninja thing.'_

Tazuna left the room.

Kakashi looked back at the gennin, then at Kurenai. "Kurenai-san. How far are they into their chakra exercises?"

"I started them on water walking some time ago, but it seems that Naruto has already finished that."

The team 7 gennin looked at Naruto. "What do you mean 'chakra exercises?'" Kiba looked at Kakashi. "I thought we already learned how to use chakra."

Kurenai looked at Kakashi with surprise. "Just what have you been teaching them, Kakashi? They don't even know tree climbing?"

Kakashi sighed. "Team 7, come with me." He got up, and winced.

"Oh, here." Kurenai gave Kakashi a crutch she had with her.

"Thanks." Kakashi got up, moved slowly. "Oh, by the way. Naruto."

Naruto looks up. "How far are you into your chakra exercises?"

"Um, I think I've almost got point balancing done."

Kurenai and Kakashi both looked surprised. Kakashi thought for a second. "Clones?"

"Yeap." Naruto nodded.

"Fox?"

Naruto looked at Kakashi for a second. "How do you..."

"I'm friends with Sarutobi-sama." He took out a scroll. "This was to never be opened, unless we are to work with you. Seeing as how you are on our mission, I deemed it necessary."

Naruto nodded. "I understand the reason, and precautions."

Kakashi looked over to the fox behind Naruto. She was looking at him with wary discretion. "Don't worry, I know she's good." The fox relaxed a little.

All the rest of the gennin from team 7 looked at Naruto with confusion. "Wha-"

Kakashi interrupted. "S-class secret." And with that, he walked off, making the team 7 gennin rush to catch up.

Shino wasn't surprised by this because.... well, let's be honest, he's an Aburame.

Hinata, she was curious, but was used to Naruto being full of surprises.

Naruto turned to Kurenai. "Does that mean you know as well?"

"Yes, Naruto." Kurenai said.

"How many people know?" he asked.

"You, that fox, Hokage-sama, Kakashi, now, Gai, the toad Sannin, and me."

"Wait, why Gai?"

"Second to the Hokage, he's the strongest Shinobi in the entire village."

Naruto nodded, _'They're just making sure Kina and me don't go off.'_

_'Silly,'_ Kina thoughts were projected into Naruto, _'They still fear me. Not that I blame them.'_

Naruto shook his head. _'Maybe they're just keeping their political asses out of trouble?'_

_'Could be,'_ she thought back.

Team 8 then looked up at Kurenai.

She stood for a minute, then said, "Seeing as how Kakashi is going to train them, we're going to take turns training and keeping guard."

The three gennin nodded.

Naruto was about to ask something, when they all felt a presence near the door. It was a kid.

The kid looked at the ninjas hard, then ran off.

"Who the hell was that?" Naruto asked out loud. Shaking his head. "So Kurenai, how are you going to train us?"

"Well, Seeing as how Naruto is already halfway through point balancing, I'll let him train on whatever he wants. You two," she pointed at Shino and Hinata, "are going to finish up water walking."

Naruto sat for a moment. "Hmm, the only thing I can do out here is leaf balancing and chakra hops."

"Leaf balancing?" Hinata asked. "But I thought that was an academy level training for chakra."

"I thought so, too. But the version I'm doing is a little above water walking in difficulty."

Shino spoke up. "Chakra hops?"

"Um, the guy I learned it from said this exact line. 'The guy who made this up either has to be an incredible thinker or a completely crazy moron. Knowing this guy, he's probably the latter of the two.'"

–

Somewhere in an alternate universe, a guy with dark glasses sneezes. "Some pretty girl must be talking about me."

"Yea right." Said a person who looked strangely like Naruto, but a little more buffed, and no fox extensions.

"What was that, minion number Q? Did you say something?"

'Minion number Q' was seething. "For the last time, I'm not your 'minion number q'!"

"HA! You do know that Q is not a number!"

"But.." Q responded... "Oh, nevermind." (Seriously, Third Fang is awesome)(3)

–

Back in our universe.

"Ooookay." Kurenai said. "Well, I wish you luck on your exercises."

"Kurenai," Shino spoke up. "You also said that we are going to take guard duty."

She nodded. "Yes, that's correct. The first day, I'll do guard duty, then Naruto, then Hinata, and last is Shino. The cycle will repeat until the bridge is completed."

"How will we contact one another, should a problem arise?" Shino asked.

Kurenai smiled. "Use these."

She handed a communicator to each of them, followed by a rocket flare.

"If you find that it's an emergency, and out of range of our communicators, use the flare to signal us."

The gennin took them, and stored the flares away, while putting the communicators in a safe spot.

–

I'm stopping here for the time being.

Again, sorry for such a long break. I was searching for a new thing for Naruto, and I'm even more firm on using it for uniqueness. So far, I'm not very unique.

One: Bite me if I got this one wrong, and I decided I'm doing all the techniques in English... too much translating...

Two: FMA reference XD (I DO NOT OWN FULL METAL ALCHEMIST!)

Three: I'm dead serious, look up his story if you haven't yet. He needs reviews more then I do.

'_yet again, with a little extra help' _is his story.

That's all for now. See ya next time.


	8. Chapter 7: Rematch Training

A/n: I do not own anything except my OC Nelrim.

I'd like to say, thank you all who are watching this story.

Now on with the show:

XXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 7: Rematch Training

Kakashi and his team walked into a random clearing surrounded by trees.

"Okay, spill it, Kakashi-sensei. What's Naruto's big secret?" Sasuke asked, expecting his sensei to give in and tell him, just like everyone else.

Imagine his surprise when he heard, "Nope, already told ya. S-class secret. If you want to know, you have to ask Naruto himself." Kakashi brought his hand up to his chin, like he was thinking. "Though, from his earlier action, he most likely wont tell anyone. Hush hush, kind of thing."

Sakura just nodded, but, she will admit, she's curious as hell to find out what Naruto's big secret is.

Sasuke just bristled. _'Fine, if Kakashi wont tell me, then I'll force it out of the dobe. Besides, I'm the last Uchiha, I can get whatever I need to kill off Itachi. If this big secret can help me, then I deserve to know.'_ Sasuke smirked, but said, "Understood."

Kiba? He didn't know what to think. Hell, he had a secret of his own, but he wasn't going to tell anyone. So why should he make someone else tell their secret? (I know, I know, he's somewhat OoC, but I'm making him a level thinker when he's not riled.)

Kakashi then began to speak, "Well, we're going to learn some chakra control exercises." He paused knowing there would be some questions. He wasn't disappointed.

"What do you mean? I mean we heard something about 'walking on water,' but I'm not sure what that means." Sakura filled in the pause.

Kakashi sighed. "Sakura, please explain the fundamentals of chakra for us, please." Kakashi looked at her expectingly.

"Well, the basics of chakra is that it's our life force, being a mixture of both spiritual and physical energies. Training in both fields will increase the amount of chakra our bodies can produce." Sakura went on to explain for a while.... (author got lazy, and didn't want to type it all out. I'm sure you all know this by now.)

When Sakura was done, Kakashi then responded, "Very good, Sakura." He looked to Kiba and Sasuke. "Now then, can one of you tell me why I asked to explain the fundamentals again?"

"Because it has an important lesson with our training?" Kiba tried.

'_No, I just felt like it because I'm the squad leader...._ ' "Yes of course it's to do with our training." Kakashi did his famous eye smile. "Now, our first chakra control exercise is tree climbing."

A sweat drop appeared on the three gennin faces. "Um, anyone can climb a tree, Kakashi-sensei." Kiba said.

"Oh really. Then I suppose you can do this?" He made half a ram sign and limped over to a tree. He put his good foot on the trunk, and proceeded to walk right up it. Seconds later, he was hanging upside down with his feet on a branch.

The three gennin looked at Kakashi with amazement. Kakashi took out three kunai and threw them at the gennin's feet. "Use those to make how far up the tree you've gone. Focus your chakra into your feet, to stick to the tree. The point of this exercise is to learn to control how much you're putting into your jutsu's. You might be wasting chakra if you're putting in too much, and too little you're making the jutsu weaker. You have to be able to put in the bare minimal amount. The point is to learn to control how much you're putting into your jutsu's. In this exercise, putting too much will break the tree and push you off. Putting too little, and you'll slip right off."

The three gennin understood, and picked up the kunai.

"Oh, and one more thing. You might want to get a running start. Trust me on this."

Sasuke was the first to run to a tree. _'If the dobe can do it, so can I!'_ He took his first steps on the tree, and promptly fell on his butt.

"Concentrate, Sasuke." Kakashi said.

"Hey Sasuke!" Sakura called out. The other two gennin looked up. Sakura was waving from a branch high up in the tree. "This is easy!" She stuck her tongue out to look cute.

The group the heard a yip, and in another tree, Akamaru was already up the tree.

"Well, well. Looks like those two are the brains in this group. Are you gonna let a puppy and a girl beat you Sasuke? What about you Kiba?"

That got the two riled up, and they both ran for their own trees. Sasuke made it half way, while Kiba only make it a quarter of the way.

"Sakura, keep running up and down the tree." Kakashi said, when she came down.

"Why? I already know how to climb them."

"You will be working on chakra capacity. While you might have a high control, you have almost no chakra. This exercise is a great way to increase your capacity for chakra." Kakashi explained.

"Okay, Kakashi-sensei." She turned to the tree, but stopped. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hmm, yes?"

"Well, um... exactly how much chakra do you think Naruto has?" The other two gennin stopped to listen as well.

"What brought this up, Sakura?"

"Well, he can make solid clones, not only that but lots of them. I know that to make each one must take a lot of chakra, so how much does he have?"

Kakashi went into a thinking pose. "You know what? I've tried my hand at shadow clones myself. The most I can ever make at one time is 55, and I have more chakra then the average jounin." He stopped to calculate. "I honestly don't know."

"How many do you think I could make?" Sakura asks.

"You can't. You don't have enough, or you would die trying."

_'What? No way!'_ Sakura thought.

"What about me?" Sasuke asks. '_I bet I can make more then that dobe.'_

"Well, considering the amount you have, maybe... 5 at most, then you would fall over from chakra exhaustion." Kakashi said.

Sasuke's eyes twitched. _'WHAT!? THAT DOBE CAN MAKE MORE THEN ME!?'_

"What about me?" Kiba asks.

"Three... maybe." Kakashi responds.

"How... how many can Naruto make?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know. During the fight, he made 6 shadow clones, and he didn't even break a sweat. He also did it seallessly, which means that he used more chakra per clone. Other then that one fight, I haven't seen him use them at all."

"If you're wondering how many I can make." said a voice coming from behind the gennin, "I'll tell you." Naruto appeared behind them.

"Spill it. How many can you make?" Sasuke asked, eager to know how many the _dobe_ could make.

"Jeez, pushy pushy. Well, if ya wanna know." He makes his foxy grin, "893 is my max, then I have to take a break for 3 hours."

Kakashi wasn't very surprised. "Well, that would put you at kage level."

The other gennin, though, had their own reactions.

Sasuke was seething, and, to be frank, his mind was calling bullshit.

Kiba just starred blankly. He just couldn't register that many Naruto's at once.

Sakura just went hysterical. Here she couldn't even make one, and Naruto could make HUNDREDS at a time.

"Fascinating, Naruto." Kakashi spoke up. "What's the power level of each clone at your max."

"Only 50 percent. I can only make twenty 100 percent clones though." Kakashi whistled at that. He was thinking maybe each at 40, but at 50?

"Why such a big difference in quality and quantity?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi explained. "Here's why he can only make so many 100 percent clones. At 50 percent, the chakra network is only partially developed. Meaning it's more of a punching bag, then a hitter. Each clone can only last 8 hours at the maximum before they would need a recharge. Their speed is lower, and each of them only has partial intelligence compared to the original. Also, if they take a hit they poof. At 100 percent, though, the chakra network, brain power, and speed are exactly like the original. The durability at 100 percent has also sky rocketed. Instead of only 8 hours, they can last up to 3 full weeks before they need a recharge, and that's with using their chakra supply constantly. They can also take a beating before they disappear. Even fatal wounds wont make them disappear immediately. They can also bleed quite nicely."

"So how many can you make Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asks.

"I can make three 100 percent shadow clones, then I wont have enough for any more." Kakashi says.

"How can you make more proportionally to Naruto?" Sakura, already having done the math.

"It's because I have a higher chakra control then Naruto. He's only at point balancing, which means he's at a chunnin level in control. I, on the other hand, have completed waterfall climbing and shunshin jumping. Which are jounin and sannin levels respectively."

"What's kage level then?" Sakura was full of questions.

"I don't know." He lied. "There probably is one, but it's either kept a secret due to being dangerous, or for some other reason." _'Actually, the kage level one isn't even the hardest. The Kage level one is lightning surfing. The super kage level is lava moving, but I wont tell them that.'_

But Naruto already knew all the levels, due to Nelrim telling him. He could take a hint though, he kept quiet about them.

"Well, that's enough of clones." Kakashi said, bringing them to attention. "Go back to your chakra exercise." He looked back up, or down, as he was still hanging upside down, at Naruto. "What do you need, Naruto? I assume you didn't come here to brag."

Naruto nodded. He held up a piece of paper, and handed it to Kakashi. He read what was on it, and then looked at Naruto. "Tell Kurenai, I understand, and will concede to this set-up." as the paper burned in Kakashi's hand.

Naruto nodded, and took off.

–

Naruto reached back to the house. He looked for Kurenai, and found her in the kitchen with Tsunami, Tazuna's Daughter. "Kakashi said," And Naruto imitated by placing his headband like Kakashi, and putting his hand over his face, "'I understand, and will concede to this set-up.'"

Tsunami giggled, and Kurenai responded, "Alright thanks, Naruto. You can go train now. Just remember that the day after tomorrow is your turn to guard, so take tomorrow easy."

Naruto nodded, and took off running.

"That Naruto is a funny character." Tsunami said.

"Yes, he is. He was known as the prank master back in the village."

"Was?"

"He graduated the academy, and stopped pranking. Though his final prank was quite funny."

"Really? What was it."

_Flash back_

_The sun rose over the village. The villagers were just getting out of bed to start the day. The ninjas were already up, and jumping around the village. Why?_

_Because they were chasing an orange blur._

_The citizens didn't think much of it till they saw the hokage monument. Several of them gasped, while others were laughing their butts off._

_Why?_

_Because the hokage faces each had paint on them. The first one, representing the first hokage, had green tree like designs coming out of his nose, and leaves for eyes._

_The second, representing the second hokage, had blue paint going down the the face from the eyes, making him look like he was crying. He also he greenish blueish paint coming out of his nose, going down._

_The third one... Well... he had glasses on him, rosy red cheeks, buck teeth, and pimples all over his face. Fitting for the one known as the 'professor.'_

_The fourth one was probably the most demeaning. The fourth one had rosy red cheeks, red lips, eye liner marks, and for the finishing touch, white powder all over his face. Making him look like a __geisha._

_They never did catch him._

_End flashback_

Tsunami giggled. "He does sound like fun."

"Yes, and considering the fact that only chunnin's and up knew of the prank master's identity, the civilians just chalked it up to some ghostly figure. Heck, I bet they still don't know who can outrun chuunin's." Kurenai laughed a little.

"Well, I wonder what I should make for dinner? How many are going to show up? I couldn't count them." Tsunami asked.

"Don't bother, we're here on a mission packed with enough food for 2 weeks. All we need is a place to stay." Kurenai said. "Oh, and there are 8 of us, not including fox and dog."

"Fox and dog?" Tsunami didn't even remember seeing animals.

"Yip." they heard a high pitched yip.

They looked down, and saw a little orange fox.

Wait for it....

"CUUUUTE!" Tsunami yelled out. She bent down and grabbed the fox, and pulled it into a bear hug. "What's her name, and who owns her?"

"How.. do you know it's a girl?" Kurenai asked.

"You silly, only girls can be this cute." Tsunami giggled.

"Eh heheh." Kurenai laughed nerviously. "Her name is Kina, and she belongs to Naruto." She looked at the fox. "Speaking of Naruto, why aren't you with your charge?"

"She can understand us?"

"Of course, she's a nin-fox. Just like nin-dogs, she can understand humans to a degree."

Tsunami just nodded numbly, chalking it up to '_some ninja thing.' _

"So, back to my question, why aren't you with Naruto?" Kurenai asked.

The foxed looked up to Tsunami, then at the door, and then at Kurenai.

"Oh, that's understandable."

"What, what does she mean?"

"Naruto asked her to guard the place." Kurenai said. A loud yip confirmed what she said.

"So, there's also a nin-dog with this group of yours?" Tsunami asked.

"Yes, but that dog belongs to a member of team 7 lead by the man with gravity defying hair. I lead Team 8, which Naruto is in."

"Why aren't the pup owners together in the same team?"

"Ever seen a dog and a fox, who might I add are natural enemies in the wild, work together?" Kurenai explained.

"Oh." was all she answered.

–

Over the next 5 days, the gennin all trained and practiced. It took Sasuke and Kiba all that time, but they managed to learn tree walking. Kakashi told them to keep going until they perfected it, meaning they could walk on a tree like him.

Both Hinata and Shino managed to perfect water walking to a degree that they could do it without thinking.

Sakura had practiced until she could walk for 15 minutes straight.

Naruto had practiced leaf balancing only. He decided to keep chakra hops for later. He wanted to get to a point that he could do it subconsciously before he went back. Unfortunately, that's easier said then done. Being the fact that focusing all 367 points simultaneously is quite difficult in itself. He went over what Nelrim said about this exercise.

_Flashback_

"_The point of this one, is to be able to push chakra out of you body in several places all at once, or in certain places at certain levels. That's why some of your clones are only doing one leg or the other, while other are moving the leaves. To complete this exercise will require patience and focus, and, at the same time, release of all of it."_

_End flashback  
_

Naruto couldn't understand what he meant by 'release all of them.' Hell, he didn't understand what _it _is.

_'Maybe Kurenai, or Kakashi could enlighten me.'_ He thought.

He made his way to the house. Outside the door, Kakashi was sitting on the porch, his crutch to one side. He was reading his smut. When Naruto neared, Kakashi looked up.

"What is it, Naruto?"

"Maybe you could help me." Naruto said.

"With what?"

"Well, I'm doing an exercise called leaf balancing."

"You mean like the one you did in the academy?"

"Yea, but this one is on another level."

"Maybe you could go back to the basics. Show me what you're doing."

Naruto nodded. He picked up a couple of leaves, and placed them on his arm. The leaves then levitated up, and stopped about 5 inches away from his skin.

"This is a lot different then the one you did in the academy. The one in the academy was just so you could open your tenketsu. If you used too little, the leaf would slip. Too much, and you burned the leaf." He stopped for a moment. "Show me what happens when you do too much."

Naruto nodded. He pumped a little more chakra to his arm, and the leaves flew away.

"Interesting. This version seems to be above water walking, but below point balancing. How come you haven't mastered it then?"

"I'm supposed to balance leaves on all my tenkatsu at once, and be able to change which ones I'm using at a moments notice, moving the leaves to the tenketsu that I would need to open, from the ones that were open." Naruto said. He demonstrated by picking up a leaf, and placing it on his foot. The leaf floated away from his foot until it was 5 inches away, then the leaf 'migrated' until it reached his head. "It's for a few techniques I'm going to learn."

"So what's the difficult part?" Kakashi asked.

"As I've said before, I need to be able to use all my tenketsu at once, and balance leaves on all of them simultaneously. The final portion in which it is mastered, is when I can migrate all of the leaves on my body, while still keeping all of the tenketsu active."

Kakashi mulled over it. _'What kind of techniques require this much control in this way, and this chakra exhaustive?'_ He thought for a moment. "How far have you gotten?"

"Well, I can hold all of the leaves on all of the points, but when I start to try and migrate them, the leaves fall off. Either all at once, or one by one."

"Hmm," Kakashi thought it over. "How about this. Just use one leaf for now, but use all you tenketsu at once. Try to migrate one leaf. I think the point is not only to be able to release all of the tenketsu at once," Naruto jerked up at this, "but also controlling the amount each gives off. Try giving less energy to each until a leaf is on it, and when you want to push it up, release all control over the tenketsu behind it, pushing it." Kakashi thought for a moment. '_Like a magnet. That puts it well above point balancing then. But this isn't about how much control you have, it's about how much you can move your body's energy.'_

Naruto jerked up at that moment because he just figured it out. _'Of course.'_

Naruto looked happy, "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei!" and Naruto ran off.

Kakashi chuckled, and then looked back down at his book. _'Now, how is Tenchi going to get out of __Ayeka's grasp this time?'_ He giggles like a little girl as he reads. (1)

–

_'The way Kakashi describes it, it's almost like a magnet.'_ He put a leaf on his sandal. _'Okay, let's open all my tenketsu, and..'_

The leaf floated 5 inches like before, but this time it was moving a tad bit slower.

_'Come on, keep it all together. Keep lowering and raising the amount.'_ He worked at it, until the leaf blew away from his waist, being that he accidentally pushed too soon. _'Well, at least I got the basics now.'_

"Shadow clone jutsu," Naruto whispered. 100 clones were made. "Let's get to work guys."

The clones all nodded, and found a tree to pick leaves off of.

–

Haku lived a simple life. She killed people, picked herbs, healed her master, killed on her master's whim, protected her master. Yeap, pretty simple.

At the moment, she was out picking herbs for her master. Her master was still recuperating from the fight that happened 6 days ago. With the herbs she picked, he would be up and about, and at 100 percent by tomorrow.

She walked along till she saw something that stopped her. She reached a clearing that had leaves littered all about. The trees were almost bare. In the middle of the clearing slept a silver haired boy covered in leaves. He was sleeping so peacefully. He had fox ears, and a fox tail.

She then noticed something. The headband. _'He's one of the shinobi that attacked Zabuza.'_ She realized she had a choice. To walk away, and potentially let this one go free, or to try and kill the enemy right here and now.

_'But no natural ninja would sleep unguarded.'_ She thought, and looked around. She saw a cute little fox curled up by the Silver haired boy's leg. The fox was watching her warily.

_'I might as well and try.'_ She thought, cursing herself for leaving the mask at the hideout. _'Careful.' _ She thought, as she approached the boy. She got five feet from the boy when she heard him talk.

"Hello." he said, his ocean blue eyes were staring at her. He was breathing peacefully.

"Why are you sleeping out here? It's dangerous." She asked innocently.

The boy smirked. "I was training. I guess I passed out."

"Are you a ninja?" she said, pointing to the headband, again acting innocently.

"Yeap. I'm training to get stronger."

"Why?" She asked, this time for real.

"Why? Because isn't that what ninja do?" He paused for a moment. "What's a girl like you doing out here all alone?"

She responded. "I'm gathering herbs for my friend. He's sick, and he could use them to get back up and running. Could you help me gather herbs?" She asked. _'Maybe I can gain knowledge from him.'_

Naruto nodded. "Sure."

They worked at it for an hour. She had a full basket, "Thanks for your help. May I ask your name?"

He smirked. "Naruto Uzumaki. And what's yours?"

"Haku." She smiled.

She paused for a few minutes, contemplating whether or not to ask. "Do you know what true strength is?"

"True strength?" That stopped him.

"Yes. Do you know what it is?"

"No, could you tell me?" He ask innocently.

"Tell me, do you have anyone... precious to you?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"People you would die for. A person you would help no matter what."

Naruto stopped for a moment. Kina, Hinata, Kurenai, Shino. Those were all the people who liked him for who he was. "Yes."

"Then you might know what true strength is."

"Again, huh?"

She smirked. "You only gain true strength protecting the ones precious to you." she said. "Train with the thought that you will be protecting those people."

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment. "Thanks, hunter-san." He said smiling.

She froze. She looked at him. _'He knew?'_

He smirked. "I'm part fox. You didn't expect me to not be able to smell the air around me, did you?"

She smirked. "You're right." She started walking off again. She then had a full blown smile. "Oh, and by the way. I'm a boy." thinking she fooled him.

Naruto wasn't fooled. "You give off pheromones like a girl. You don't have an Adams Apple. You have a petite body, you look like a girl in the face. Am I missing something?"

The fox chose this moment to run up to Haku. It leaped up, and pulled the hair out of it's knot, making it cascade down her back.

"Oh, right. Long hair."

Haku blushed. "You have long hair as well."

"I have it in a low pony tail. That doesn't count." He made his iconic foxy grin.

"Fine." She said. "The next time we meet, we'll be enemies." She said as she disappeared into the woods.

The fox jumped into Naruto's lap. _'Oh, yes we will.'_ Kina thought.

–

The next morning: Day 7

The morning all the gennin, but Naruto down to the morning table.

"Where's Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"He's still out training." Hinata answered. She knew because she checked this morning with her eyes.

A few minutes later, the front door opened.

"It's Naruto," Hinata said, blushing a little.

The fox boy came into the room, looking worse for wear. He looked dead beat tired.

Kurenai got up, and analyzed Naruto with a medical technique. "Hmm, Naruto pushed himself too hard. He's going to need food, then some sleep."

Hinata nodded, and got up. She blushed, but she picked up one of his arms, and helped him over to the table.

Hinata then looked at Tsunami. "You got any ramen?" She asked.

Tsunami nodded.

"Good, ca-can I have a place on the stove, and the ramen makings please? I'm going to cook for him." She said, getting redder as she said it.

Kurenai was cooed. _'Oh, she's going to cook for him.'_ She then laughed mentally.

Tsunami nodded, while Hinata got Naruto into a chair. He WAS dead beat tired. He flopped his head onto the table like it was his pillow.

Hinata grabbed several spices, and some meat. She cooked it for a while. She grabbed a bowl, and then put the cooked ramen into the bowl. Naruto, at this point was drooling from his mouth, despite being out of it.

She walked over to the table, and the rest of the people in the room, like it was a mircale, Naruto come back from the dead, and grab the bowl. He slurped it down so fast, they were almost sure he would choke.

"So delicious." He said in a sleepy tone, and promptly fell asleep.

Hinata was blushing. _'He really liked it. I have to thank Ayame-chan for teaching me later.'_ She smiled.

"Hinata, Shino. Could you two drag fox boy upstairs please?" Kurenai started. "He's obviously too tired to do anything."

"Where's Tazuna?" Sakura asked.

"He's with Kakashi at the moment, at the bridge." Tsunami responded. "He said he wanted an early start today."

The group nodded. Understanding.

_'The sooner he finishes, the sooner we can get out of this backwater town.' _Sasuke thinks.

Suddenly, a big boom was heard. Kurenai rushed out the front door, and looked into the front sky. "The flare's gone off." She called into the house.

She hurried inside. "That was the signal. Grab your things and get moving to the bridge."

The gennin all rushed, and soon they were all running towards the bridge. "What about Naruto?" Hinata asked.

"Leave him, he's too weak at the moment." Kurenai responded.

Sasuke smirked. _'Leave it to the dobe to wear himself out.'_

–

Kina sat on top of Naruto a bed in the second story room.

As she transformed more of her yokou in his body to chakra, she thought about the third day they were here, and how well he controlled himself.

_Flashback_

_Day 3_

_Everyone but Naruto and Tazuna were sitting at the table, waiting for their charge to come back._

_The front door was opened._

"_Hey, I'm home." Tazuna called out, as he entered the kitchen, Naruto following right after._

"_Hey, dad." She called back. "How is the bridge?"_

"_Super." Tazuna called back, smiling._

"_Well, guys. What's for dinner? I'm starving." Naruto asked, with his tummy growling to put emphasis on hungry._

"_Well, we have some meat, and some rice noodles with a few veges for the side." She said._

"_Cool." He said, and grabbed a plate. After he filled it, he joined the others on the table. "How was training guys?"_

"_It-it went well Na-Naruto." Hinata responded. "I've al-almost completed water wa-walking."_

"_Cool Hinata." Naruto praised her. "Told ya you could do it." He smiled. Hinata grew red, but didn't pass out, much to everyone's surprise. "What about you Kiba."_

_Kiba answered. "I've gotten better at tree climbing, and I can even feel the effects of the training. I can perform jutsu faster now."_

"_Cool. How about you Shino?" Naruto turns to him._

"_I have completed the water walking exercise. It's really helped with my bugs." Shino answered. He's gotten used to Naruto talking to him._

_Naruto turned to Sakura when they all heard a voice. _

_A little kid was standing in the doorway. Inari looked at them hard. "Why? Why do you train? You can't beat Gato. It's futile to even try."_

"_Why?" Naruto answered. "Because we're ninjas. It's what we do. Complete missions, save the weak, fight the strong."_

"_IT'S POINTLESS! NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU TRY, YOU CAN'T BEAT HIM!" He yells out._

"_I don't know why you're underestimating us, or overestimating Gato, but I can logically assure you. We can take on Gato." Shino spoke up._

_Kiba turned to Shino. "Dude, that's the most I've ever heard you talk."_

"_Listen kid, we've all suffered a little here." Naruto said. "I've been beaten many times in my life. So don't go saying we don't know what pain is."_

"_Oh, yea? You don't have a scar on you! You don't know what we've been through. The suffering we've endured." The boy started to whimper. Then he steeled himself and stared at the group. "I bet none of you know pain. You all just came waltzing in like you owned the place. You all lived in your sheltered little homes. I BET YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT SUFFERING IS!"_

_Kurenai, Kakashi, and Kina all thought the same thing._ _'Shit!'_ _They both moved to grab Naruto, but the boy slammed his hand onto the table, and stabbed a kunai through it._

"_I don't know what pain and suffering is?" He said in an almost hysterically quiet tone. "I don't know what **pain and suffering is?!" **His voice became deeper and louder as he spoke. The KI coming from him was a huge amount, and felt pulled his hand off of the table, and showed them all that the kunai went straight through. **"Listen, boy. I don't know what kind of life you live, but you should remember one THING. I've been tortured, mutilated, beaten to a pulp, and almost killed 15 times before I was 5 years old."** He took the kunai out. He balled his hand into a fist. "Now, count to 20." They did so silently. He was glad he could find a moment to calm himself._

"_20," Kakashi called out. He knew what was going to happen._

_Naruto opened his hand, and wiped the blood off. What was shown is that the hand was perfectly healed. No marks whatsoever on it. "Listen kid. You shouldn't think that you had it worse then anyone else. Because I can assure you, there is someone out there who has suffered more. If you don't want to feel that suffering, then do something about it. Don't just sit there and sulk. Do something to change it for the better. Don't hide behind the excuse that your dad died." They talked about the kids dad on the first day there. "The kunai was to show you why I didn't have any marks, and did I flinch when I stabbed myself? Think about that." He moved to the stairs. "I'm going to sleep tonight, I'm not feeling hungry."_

_Hinata was practically in tears. She knew of it. She saw the brutal massacre that happened that day. The day his throat got slit._

_Kiba spoke up, "Is everything he said true, Kakashi-sensei?"_

_Kakashi sighed. "If anything, he sugar-coated it."_

"_It's... true." Hinata said between gasps._

_Kurenai walked over to Hinata, and hugged her tightly."How do you know that, Hinata?"_

"_I saw the day that an ANBU defected, and tried to kill him. When another two ANBUs both with wolf masks, came to save him." she answered, trying to calm herself. _'Why do they hate him so much?'

_Kakashi went wide-eyed. _'So, she saw that day, huh?'

_Inari ran out the room in tears._

_With that, Kina left the room._

–

Kina was almost asleep, when she heard a loud bang at the door.

–

And cut. With that I'm leaving off the fighting portions to the next chapter. Next chapter is the final chapter in the Zabuza arc. YAY!

Tell me what you think... Did I put it too lightly? Meh...

(1) Tenchi Muyo reference. XD (I DO NOT OWN TENCHI MUYO OR ANY OF IT"S RELATED SERIES!)

By the way, I'll be posting facts about each character in my profile. You might learn something new. The first one to be posted is Nelrim.

A/N: Flamers will get a stick up their ass, and put out to dry in the sun.


	9. Chapter 8: Rematch

A/n: I do not own anything except my OC Nelrim.

I'd like to say, thank you all who are watching this story.

I have to give thanks to Godo for giving me a sight to refer to for translations. Now don't fret, I'll make it so you people who aren't jap savy can understand them. For the people who are, can you catch me translations if they're off, and then PM me what I translated wrong? That would be a great help if you could. Thanks in advanced.

Basically, from this point forward, all the jutsus and skills are going to be in jap, but there is going to be an english translation afterwords. Something like this.

"KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!" (_Shadow clone jutsu)_

Of course, since you guys already know that one, I don't need to translate it... right?

Now on with the show:

XXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 8: Rematch

_'I wonder who that could be at the door.'_ Tsunami wondered as she approached the door. Right when she was at the door, it was banged down. She screamed out in fright.

"Well, looky here." said one of two men. Both men were holding their katanas out in the open. (Not gonna describe them. They're just your typical bandits, use your imagination.)

"Gato said take the pretty women to the bridge, right?" Said the other swordsman.

"Yea, those were his orders."

The other man grew a lecherous grin. "He didn't say in what condition though, only alive."

The two men chuckled darkly as they approached her.

"Get away from my mom you baka!" shrieked a kid's voice.

The two men turn to see a small kid. "Oh, looky here. A little hero." Said one of the men. "Well, we know what happens to heroes." He took his sword, and pointed it at the kid.

"Stop!" Tsunami called out. "I'll go quietly, just don't hurt my son."

"Oh, yea? What's to stop us from killing the kid?"

"I'll bite my tongue off. You need a live prisoner, right?" She said quietly.

One of the crooks turned to the kid. "Well, kid. Looks like ya got lucky. Your mom bailed ya out."

Inari looked down, and headed into the kitchen.

"Smart kid." Said the other crook. "Welp, let's get this lady to the bridge." He smirked. "Maybe we can have some fun on the way."

"Hehe, yea, I look forward to it." Said the other.

As they were heading out the door, they heard a battle scream come from behind them. "LET GO OF MY MOM YOU MONSTERS!" And he ran at them with a fork.

Before he could even make it to them, the mobsters fell to the ground, their throats slit by claws. "Huh?" Inari called out. "What just happened?"

"That would be my doing." Said a boy with silver hair, a silver tail, and fox ears to match. He was standing behind Tsunami. She turned around to see his claws blood red.

"Nice going kid. You proved to be a great distraction." Naruto said. "But seriously. A fork? C'mon, there are knives in the kitchen. You could have used one of those. What were you gonna say, 'I'll fork ya a nice one?'" Naruto laughed. "Well, anyways, I'm proud of you kid."

"Huh?"

"You wanted to protect your mother, instead of just letting it happen. You decided to try to fight on your own, even in the worst situations. You could be a great person someday." Naruto did a nice guy pose. _'I hope Anko doesn't kill me for that.'_

–

Somewhere in Konoha. A women with a brown trench coat, and fishnet liner across her body with purple hair was sitting and eating her favorite food. Dangos. She suddenly stopped, and looked in the direction of Wave country.

"Somewhere, Somehow. Naruto did something that would piss me off." She sat on that for a second. "I'll pummel him when he gets back." She laughed evilly, and the people nearby scooted away from her in fear. "I just figured something fun to use on him."

–

A shiver went up Naruto's spine. _'Shit, she's gonna kill me. Or worse, torture me.'_

He looked back at the kid who watch Naruto suddenly get down and shiver once.

"You okay, Naruto?" Tsunami asks.

"Yea, yea. I just had a strange premonition about something horrible that will happen to me."

Cue sweat drops. "Well, anyways, the group set off in the direction of the bridge. Saying thing like, 'The signal went off.' I think."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Tsunami, do you have a place you can go for safety?"

"Yes, the sweat room downstairs, below the kitchen table"

"Okay, don't come out unless we knock the table two times, then three, then once. 23 is number 1."(1)

"Got it." Tsunami said.

"Kid," Inari looks up at Naruto. "Protect your mom till one of us gets back."

Inari puffed his chest out. "I got it, boss."

Naruto nodded, and ran off.

–

_'This is bad.'_ Kakashi thought. _'Really bad.'_

They essentially had him in a tight place. He couldn't really attack, nor could he keep on defending.

_Flashback_

_Tazuna and Kakashi got to the bridge that morning with no problems. When they got there the morning mist was really heavy._

"_Man, this mist is bad, even for the mornings." Tazuna said. "I wonder where everyone is."_

_Kakashi got a bad feeling, and used a small wind jutsu to push away the mist. What they saw was horrifying. The workers, all of them, were knocked out, but that wasn't the scary part. What was scary was that Zabuza was standing right there, with his blade on Kakashi's neck._

"_Well, well. Welcome to round 2. I hope the fight goes smoothly." Zabuza called out. "And would you give a warm welcome to my partner in crime?"_

_The hunter-nin from last time came out of nowhere and was holding a needle to the man's neck._

_Instantly, the two men turned into water, and Zabuza and the hunter-nin were left empty handed._

_Kakashi appeared behind them carrying Tazuna on his shoulder. He put Tazuna down. "Sorry about that."_

_Tazuna was a little shaken up. "No... no problem. That was a super job." Kakashi picked an object out of his bag. He put it on the ground, then pulled a wire._

"_Cover your ears." Tazuna did just that. A second later, a loud screeched was heard, and a flare was sent into the sky. Two seconds later, a loud bang was heard._

"_Good, you warned the others right?" Tazuna sighed, almost relieved._

"_It's not over yet." Kakashi pulled up his headband to reveal the sharingan. "The fight's just getting warmed-up."_

_Zabuza chuckled. "You got that right." He made two half ram symbols, and the mist got suddenly thicker._

"_I know how your eye works now, Kakashi. You have to see me to be able to work your magic trick on me. And further more, you have to be able to make eye contact to put me in the genjutsu of yours." Zabuza called out._

'Dammit, he's right.' _Kakashi thought._

_And after that Kakashi had to deflect several shots at him._

_End flashback_

Kakashi was getting shot down. Little by little, he became slower from dogging both the big man's attack, and the hunter-nins needles.

"Kakashi-san!" A female voice called out.

Kakashi turned around, and sighed in relief. It was the rest of the group minus Naruto.

"Are you okay?" Kurenai said.

"Yea, I'm a little tired." Kakashi said.

"Sakura, Hinata, Kiba. I want you three to guard Tzauna. Sasuke, Shino. Take on the hunter-nin. Kakashi and I will handle big blade boy."

The gennin nodded in understanding, and went into action. Shino looked to Sasuke. "I found her. Follow me."

_'Her?'_ the rest of the group thought.

Sasuke nodded, and followed close behind.

Hinata went into a defensive stance, and activated her byakugan. She couldn't see very, being that the mist was filled with chakra, but she still had 20 meters of good view around her, and another 10 meters beyond that which was foggy. "Sakrua, get on the other side of Tazuna and watch from that direction. I'll give you a heads up for any incomings." Hinata was in battle mode now, and she never stuttered when she was like this. "Kiba, Keep sniffing the air, you might detecting them before me."

Sakura nodded her head, and kept a look out from the other side. Kiba did as well, and Akamaru and he were sniffing the air.

–

With Shino and Sasuke

The two ran in a direction till Shino called out. "3 o'clock high boogies."

Sasuke looked and blocked several needles coming at him.

"Impressive." a voice called out. "You two are working well together. Are you two team mates?"

"No." Shino said impassively. "Launch, 12 o'clock."

Sasuke through his kunai in a direction, and a metal cling was heard. Shino then through several of his own, and more clings were heard.

"How are you detecting me?" She asked aloud.

Sasuke smirked. "Well, you'll just have to find out."

Several hunter-nins came at them at once. Sasuke took out another kunai, and moved to quickly dispatch the clones. The all turned into water, except one. This one stopped the kunai from hitting her with a senbon. Another clone went to attack Shino. Shino was losing badly, due to not being a close range type.

"I have the advantage now." The hunter-nin said.

"Yea, how so?" Sasuke asked, keeping the pressure on her Senbon.

"One, we're surrounded by water. Two, one of your hands is used up, so you can't perform any ninjutsu."

"So, you can't either."

"Can't I?" She held up one hand, and began forming signs.

_'One handed symbols?!'_

When she reached her final sign, she called out._ "_Sensatsu Suishō"_(Thousand flying needles of death.)_ She stomped her foot on the ground, and water droplets were created. Those little droplets then turned into needles, and focused their targets on Sasuke.

_'Shit!'_ Sasuke thought, and did his best to dodge and get out of there. He saw Shino getting his butt handed to him by a clone, and Sasuke rushed up to it, and killed the clone.

"Thank you." Shino said, gasping for breath.

"Keep a lookout for her, Shino. She could be anywhere." Sasuke said calmly. They were both surrounded by water and mist

Shino turned to look in a direction, and Sasuke followed his gaze. Standing out in the open was the hunter-nin. She was doing handsigns, but before either of them could do anything, she finished her handsigns and called out _"_Makyō: Hyōshō"_(Demonic Ice: Crystal Mirrors)_

Several mirrors formed up out of the ground around Shino and Sasuke. She stepped up to one of the mirrors, and said, "Now, you shall see my true potential." and stepped right into the mirror. A 'reflection' of her showed up on one of them.

_'This is bad. We're surrounded by a strange technique, and it seems to be a kekkei genkai.'_ Shino thought. _'Further more, we don't know what she can do.'_

"This is my bloodline ability, the ice mirrors." She said. _'I have to finish this fast. This technique drains a lot out of me.'_ She put her hand up, and several ice shaped senbon formed in her hand. "Now, let's see if you can keep up. I'll show you true speed."

Within several seconds, Shino gained several piercings on his body. He fell to his knees stunned at the sudden pain. His insect were going into overdrive to stabilize his body, but they couldn't keep up, and Shino passed out.

Sasuke was the luckier of the two. His quicker reflexes saved him from getting hit in vital points, but he was not much better, as several needles were protruding from his body.

–

Kakashi and Kurenai weren't doing any better. They couldn't predict where Zabuza would strike, and Kakashi was worse for wear from having to defend himself and Tazuna. Kurenai was not an offensive type, and couldn't really predict much either.

"Kakashi." Kakashi looked to his left to see Kurenai behind him. "If you could hold him off for a bit, I think I can get him out with a genjutsu."

"But how? Don't you need eye contact, or be able to see him?"

"Not with the version I'm going to do. It's a massive area version as well. When I tell you then, you need to use a wind jutsu to blow away the fog."

Kakshi studied her for a second. "Got it."

Kurenai nodded, and started performing hand signs at a rapid pace.

Kakashi pulled out a second kunai. _'Time to play defensive again.'_

"Whatever you're up to, you can't use it on me. This mist protects me very well." Zabuza called out. "Now, where to strike next?"

Kakashi suddenly moved in front of Kurenai, who was focusing on her technique. She reached 30 hand signs, and then called out while holding sheep, "Kakashi now."

Kakashi nodded, and performed a quick wind jutsu. "Fūton: Daitoppa"_(Wind style: Great breakthrough)_

The air suddenly shifted a lot, and most of the mist cleared away, leaving evening able to see clearly for a few seconds. Before it came back too much though, Kurenai called out. "Ninpou: choushu ahou"_(Ninja art: Fooled hearing)_ She stared at Zabuza.

"Kai!" Zabuza called out, and the mist went away. "Hehe, you used that chance, and you got nothing. I've released the genjutsu before it could do anything to me. I knew it was coming."

Kurenai smirked. "Kakashi, it's okay to talk now."

"What? Did you hear him? He's already released it."

"I know, but he only released on layer. I actually put three on him. Hence why it took a while to perform."

"So, um, what's going to happen?"

"Let's just say, you should raise your kunai and strike down twenty degrees west."

Kakashi did just that, right before it hit concrete, Zabuza got in the way. Kakashi smiled. "You fooled his hearing, didn't you?" Zabuza looked confused, but then backed away.

"Yes, and this one is much harder to break, even simple pain won't work."

"Can you have him stand still for a moment?"

"Already down, what are you going t-" She stopped when she saw him make two hand sings, then grab his arm.

"Chidori!" He called out, and his hand startled to shine with lightning. "Where is he?"

She closed her eyes for a second. "Directly west." She said. And he ran off in that direction with his arm in tow.

–

_'This is bad. Real bad.'_ Sasuke thought. He could see her move between mirrors, and he had singed her clothing, but he had run out of chakra. Something was eating up his chakra more then he was used to. The world also seemed to move slower, but he couldn't really tell all that well.

"Time to finish this." The hunter-nin said in a monotone. She raised up her arms to release the last barrage of needles, and through them. Just as they reached Sasuke, a kunai came out and blocked them.

"Never fear, Naruto's here." Naruto called out. Sasuke opened his eyes to see Naruto up and ready to battle, his kunai out, and Kina on the ground growling at the girl in the mirror.

"Nice to see you again, Haku." Naruto noticed Shino on the ground. "You.. you didn't kill him, did you?" Naruto asked.

"No, he's still alive, just passed out." She said calmly.

"Phew, glad that's over with. Now, onto real business." Naruto turned around. "Haku, I saw a large group of men gathering at the edge of the bridge. I listened on to a conversation between Gato and his men. They're going to betray you."

Haku didn't look surprised. _'This might be a trick for a diversion.'_

"Wait, Naruto, how do you know her name. And further more, why should we care that Gato betrays them?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto turned around, and saw Sasuke's face for the first time. "Um, Sasuke."

"Yea?"

"Why do you eyes look like Kakashi's left eye?"

Sasuke jerked up. "Tell me, how many marks in each eye?"

"One in you left eye, and two in your right eye." Naruto said.

Kina looked up as well to see them. _'Oh hell no. Just when we were breaking through Sasuke's arrogance, his bloodline had to...'_ she thought.

Sasuke laughed. "FINALLY! My sharingan has awakened."

Haku shifted uncomfortably. "So, you have that as well?" She started to appear in multiple mirrors. "Naruto, sorry. But I cannot go against my precious one's words. I have to kill you if I deem you threats."

"Wait!" Naruto tried to yell again, but couldn't. The words fell on deaf ears as well. All he images threw senbons at once.

Naruto and Sasuke worked back to back to stop them from getting killed by the needles.

_'Naruto, deactivate your gravity seal. Use my yokou!' _Kina yelled in her head, creating a red yokou shield in front of her to stop the needles.

Naruto followed her commands, and used a ram sign when he could. "KAI!" The gravity seal lifted off, and he could move faster. He started blocking more quickly now. He searched his body for her yokou. When he got to the usual place, he noticed something else. He moved to another burning feeling in his body. It felt warmer and a more welcome sensation then Kina's yokou. Without a second thought, he tapped into it.

His body was overrun by the power.

_'Naruto, what did you just do!? Oh, shit. You shouldn't have touched that!'_ Kina yelled in her mind. Her voice got slower and slower as she thought.

The needles came at him slower, and slower, until the needles seemed to have stopped in mid air. Naruto looked around him, he saw Kina at his feet looking worried. She was frozen. Sasuke, behind him, was frozen in mid swing, deflecting an ice needle. Another three were heading right for his stomach. Naruto moved, and grabbed all three, and threw them aside.

"What the hell just happened to me? I can grab these things out of mid air." Naruto looked up, and moving very slowly was the hunter-nin. He aimed his kunai at her feet, and threw several of them. They hit, and created a big gash in them. He threw one more, and it hit her stomach. He missed vitals on purpose.

After he did so, Haku started to move faster, and faster. Naruto got back into a defensive position. _'Whatever this is, it's wearing off.'_ he knocked several of the ice needles from the area, and then looked to the mirror that Haku was just going into.

The sensation stopped, and Naruto collapsed onto his knees. He wasn't just exhausted, but his entire body felt on fire. He yelled out in pain.

"What just happened, dobe?" Sasuke asked, suddenly very aware of the fact that the ice needles just seemed to disappear.

Kina spoke into her mind and almost literally yell at him. _'I told you, MY YOUKOU! And what you just did is not tap into my yokou. You tapped something unknown!' _Naruto did another cry out in pain. _'Shit. Nelrim, I hope you have that remedy ready.'_

Sasuke, though was focusing on something else. Haku had flown right out of her mirrors, and in her feet and stomach were kunais. "How.. How did you just do that dobe?" Sasuke asked, clearly out of it.

Naruto got himself under control enough to see his handy work. His body still felt on fire, but at least he could somewhat control the pain. Haku was on the ground. She had landed awkwardly due to her feet being of no use. She pushed a hand to her stomach. "What... what was that, Naruto?" Haku asked.

Naruto tried to speak up, but all that came out was a gasp of pain. Suddenly the air cleared around them. They could see everything clearly. Kakashi, and Kurenai had several cuts on them, and Zabuza looked a little winded. Kurenai called something out, and Zabuza did a counter.

The mist came back in just as strong. A sudden cry of pain came from Zabuza.

"Zabuza-sama." She tried to get up, but couldn't. The pain in her feet were too intense. She pulled the kunai out of her feet and stomach, and forced herself to ignore the pain. She ran towards the cry.

A bird like screech started to sound out throughout the area. A light flashed, and the mist cleared up again. Naruto saw the after math, still not able to get up.

Zabuza had Kakashi's had in his chest. Punctured straight through, but not through the heart. To Zabuza's side was Haku, she looked like she was pushed out of the way.

"Now," Zabuza coughed up some blood. "Didn't I tell you that it's not nice to interrupt my battles." He coughed up more blood. Kakashi pulled his hand out of Zabuza.

A clapping sound was heard, and that stopped everyone. As the mist cleared, Gato and him men could be seen quite clearly.

"Well, well, well. The great demon of the mist beaten by some brats and their baby-sitters." Gato said, shaking his head.

Zabuza coughed a little more. "What are you doing here?" Zabuza asked, already knowing the answer.

"I came for a stroll with my men, hoping to see a dead bridge builder. And what do I see? You beaten around like a little kid, by little kids." Gato then smiled. "Ah, oh well. I wasn't going to pay you anyways."

"So, you're betraying us." Haku said.

"Bright girl." Gato said. "Although, you can't be too bright, as you hurt my arm before you came here."

Zabuza chuckled hoarsely.

"These men will all work for me lower then the price it would have costed me to pay you, and you already wore down Tazuna's guard. I get a two in one payment. A very lucky deal." Gato looked over them all. "Now, I'm going to kill you all, but my men will leave the women alive. I like to have a little fun with them before I kill them."

_'Uh, oh.'_ Kurenai thought. She looked over to Naruto who had red eyes, but was holding his chest like he was in pain. He looked over to Kina, and then looked back at them.

_'Kina, you have my permission to use 5 tails.'_ Naruto thought. _'Kill them all, but Gato.'_

Kina nodded. _'Okay, just sit tight, Naruto. I just sent my message to Nelrim, He'll be here shortly.'_

Naruto nodded, with red still in his eyes. He looked back at Gato and his men, set off some ki, and said something loud enough for all of them to hear. "Don't you ever dare threaten my friends."

Kina's tail suddenly split in half, making two tails. She grew a little larger. Her tails split once more, making four tails, she grew larger still, she was about the size of a pony at this point. One of her tails to the middle split once more, creating five tails. She became the size of a full blown horse. The air suddenly grew dark, until no one could see. Two red eyes shined out of the darkness looking straight at the men.

The eyes disappeared, and then cries were heard. Bodies being pulled apart could be sounded out. A man gargled on his own blood somewhere. The darkness lifted to show that Kina had moved to the other side of the bridge, her tails wagging swiftly behind her. Before her, a mass of men were on laid all over the ground in a nice blood mess. Body parts were left in several places, and several more were burned, and clawed to pieces. Gato was the only one left standing.

He turned around, to see her looked him straight in the eyes

Kina opened her mouth covered in blood. "My master said to leave you alive." A deep voice came out of her mouth. "Consider yourself lucky. I would have enjoyed killing a man like you. You are a disgrace to all creatures." She closed her mouth, and disappeared. She appeared near Naruto, still with five tails, and picked Naruto up with one of her tails.

"Master is very hurt at the moment, Kuernai-sama." Kina said. "I must take him somewhere else for the moment. He'll be back at the wave woman's house in 3 days time." A cat with a siamese fur design appeared on top of Kina, and they all disappeared.

Sasuke could only say one thing. "What the fuck?"

"You're telling me." Kakashi said. He turned and looked at Gato, but Gato wasn't looking at where Naruto and Kina just were. Nor was he looking at the rest of them. He was backing away from Hinata.

Something was different about Hinata. Her hands had become claws. Her posture very unlike a Hyuugas. She hissed at him, and lunged at the poor man.

Kurenai snapped to attention.

"SHIT! Not one, but both of them go off?" Kurenai moved, and grabbed Hinata just as she was about to take out the man's second eye.

The group could see Hinata's eyes now. Her eyes had changed as well. They had faint dark blue slits in them. Her hands were a bloody mess now.

"What's going on?" Kakashi said, as he ran up to her.

"Well, let's just say... There's more to Hinata then meets the eye."

Hinata struggled against Kurenai's holding, trying to get at the man who was torn to pieces.

"Shhh, it's okay now, Hinata." Hinata calmed down somewhat. Kurenai held Hinata against her chest, hugging her tightly. "Calm down, little one."

Hinata closed her eyes somewhat, and then drifted off into lala land.

Sakura ran off and grabbed Shino. At this point, she didn't care anymore. If they wanted to tell her, then they would tell her.

Kiba? Dude, he shit his pants when he saw the fox become a giant, and then pissed himself when he saw Hinata literally tear a man to pieces. Akarmaru? He was hiding in Kiba's shirt. For a while, neither of them would move.

–

Hinata woke up in a strange place. It was her family's dojo. _'That's weird.'_ She thought as she was getting up. _'Did I just dream that?'_ She thought back to it.

_Flashback_

"_These men will all work for me lower then the price it would have costed me to pay you, and you already wore down Tazuna's guard. I get a two in one payment. A very lucky deal." Gato looked over them all. "Now, I'm going to kill you all, but my men will leave the women alive. I like to have a little fun with them before I kill them."_

_A blueish hue wept over her eyes._

_The area grew dark, and she heard several men being slaughtered. The light came back, but less clear. Men were strewed all over the bridge in a funny fashion. She saw the man quivering, and looking straight into the giant foxes eyes. The giant fox said something at that moment._

_Her eyes became less clear, and soon all she could think about was killing the man. Her body was moving all on it's own, and approached them. The world, at that point, grew dark._

End flashback

She looked around, and saw that a door was open. She walked out of the door, and into one of the main hallways. She walked around slowly, before she came to her mother's garden. In the center, was a giant blue cat with two tails.

The cat sat patiently, waiting for Hinata to take her in. When she felt it was enough time, she spoke up. "Hello, kitten." The cat said.

"W-who are yo-you?" Hinata asked. "An-and where are we?"

"Me? I'm the two-tailed cat, Nibi no Bakeneko." She said politely. "And as for where we are. We're in your mind, kitten."

"Wait, THE Nibi no Bakeneko. The demon?" Hinata asked. "Why... why are you in my mind?"

"I placed myself in you, kitten."

"Why?"

She chuckled. "To follow my master's orders."

"You mean the Shinigami?"

"Very good, Kitten. The Shinigami is my master, but I have another that I follow on this plain of existence."

"Wh-who?" Hinata thought.

"Why, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, of course." She said, as if it was everyday knowledge.

"Bu-but, I thought the kyuubi was killed by the yondaime."

Nibi chuckled. "You think that my master could be killed?" She laughed some more. "No, she can't be. She was sealed inside a certain person."

"Wa-wait, she?" Hinata started gathering her thoughts.

_'That's right, kitten. Just a little more.'_ "Yes, she. You think the most powerful being on this planet would be a male?" She laughed harder. "No, that kind of power cannot be entrusted to any male."

"Wh-who is she sealed inside."

Nibi smirked. "He is someone close to you. You admire him everyday. He's followed around by a little fox that's smarter then she let's off."

Hinata's eyes widened. "Naruto!?"

"Yes, kitten." She purred out. "At least you fell in love with the right guy. I didn't even have to influence you."

"Then.. then is that little fox, The Kyuubi?" Hinata was putting two and two together.

"Very good, once more Kitten." Nibi said.

"So, is Kina her real name?"

Nibi looked shocked to it.

"I mean, Kyuubi is just a title really, meaning 'nine-tails.'" She stopped for a moment. "What's your real name?"

"I'm going to like you a lot, Kitten. Smart, but not yet very independent. Yet. But we can work on that with time." She purred. "My name is..."

–(2)

"Huh?" Inari said aloud. "Were we too late?"

The group looks up from Hinata. Hinata was in Kurenai arms, being cradled. They all see the villagers eying the destruction that occurred.

"Wh-what happened to the bridge?" Inari asks.

"You missed it kid." Kakashi said. "I'm glad you all came to help, but we already killed off the enemy."

"What about me?" Zabuza said, laying back in the ground. Haku was tending to his wounds.

Kakashi turned, "We'll deal with you two later. But right now, neither of you are deemed a threat. Your employer is dead."

Zabuza nodded, then leaned his head back. He was slightly annoyed by Haku's constant ministrations, but he endured it.

A man rushed up to Tazuna. "Are you okay, man?"

Taznua came out of his stupor. "Wha- yea, yea. I'm fine."

Kakashi walked up to Taznua. He grabbed the one needle still in the guys side. "I guess I didn't stop all of them. Hold on Tazuna, this will hurt for a second." And pulled it out fast.

Tazuna jerked, but didn't cry out.

Kakashi looked at the man.

"Being in front of the whole village makes one braver." He chuckled.

Kakashi chuckled as he wrapped the man's wound. "There, now you should just rest for the day."

"What about my men?"

"Sasuke, go check them out. See how they're doing." Kakashi called out.

Sasuke nodded, and moved to check them out. After a few minutes, Sasuke came back. "They're okay. A few will have a light concussion, but A okay otherwise."

Tazuna breathed out a sigh of relief.

Hinata squirmed in Kurenai's arms, but didn't awaken. She was letting off a strange blueish greenish aura.

"Will she be okay?" Tazuna asked.

Kurenai did not look up. "I hope so."

Kakashi spoke up. "Come on, everyone. We have to get the wounded back to the house, and get Kiba a new pair of underwear."

Sakura giggled, much to Kiba's embarrassment.

–

The group made it back to Tsunami's house. When they entered the kitchen, it was empty.

"Inari, where's your mother?" Kakashi asked. He placed Zabuza down on a couch. Haku was being carried by Sasuke and Sakura. They placed her down as well near Zabuza. Both of them were asleep.

Inari just walked over to the table, and balled his first on the ground. He tapped twice, paused, three times, paused and one final time, before an unlatching sound was heard.

Kakashi, already figuring out what was happening, moved over and helped them lift the door. Tsunami came out. "Oh, you're all here. Thank goodness." She tightly hugged her son. "Don't you dare ever scare me like that again." She saw her father. "Daddy, you're okay!" She ran over and hugged him. "Thank goodness you're alright." She hugged him tighter.

Kakashi decided to put his hand on her shoulder. "If you hug any tighter, then you're going to open his wounds." She gasped, but nodded in understanding and let the man breath.

She looked around once more. "Where's Naruto?"

Kakashi and Kurenai stiffened. "He," Kakashi started, "went to go deal with an issue." _'one that I'm not sure of.'_

Tsunami took the lie, and went over to start a meal for them. _'I bet they're all hungry.'_

Kurenai looked up from Hinata in the back. "I'm going to place her in bed."

They all nodded at her, and she went up the stairs.

"What's wrong with her?" Tsunami asked, being busy getting food and spices together for them.

"She's just a little tired, used up a lot of her energy." _'Killing a bastard who would have raped you.'_ Sakura said and inner-Sakura finished mentally.

"Okay." she said.

A few minutes of silence later, food was served.

–

Naruto woke up inside his mind. Kina was sitting on top of him, looking down at him angrily, but a worried look betrayed her eyes. "Do you realize how close to death you came?" she said.

Naruto looked around. It was the same as it always was. A thick forested area surrounded them both, and they sat in a small clearing.

"Well, I don't know what came over me. I felt for your power, but a warmer, much more comfortable one was right next to it."

Kina sighed. "And you went straight for it, not really noticing what you were doing, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Naruto," she looked like she was trying to find a way to say something, "Oh hell with it. You awakened your kekkei genkai too early, and you're gonna pay for it in pain."

Naruto looked at her with discomfort. "Um, how is that?"

"Remember the pain you felt while you were on the bridge?"

"Yea, I felt like I was being burned alive."

"Yea, well, that's a small fire compared to the volcano of pain you're gonna go through."

Narut was about to ask her what, but then a sharp pain begin to build in his head, shoulders and hip. The pain spread out, and he grew unconscious once more.

–

Out in the real world, Kina and Nelrim were standing over Naruto in a cave. The cave was lined with several instruments for keeping a person alive in the worst scenarios. Anko was standing nearby, making sure the equipment is in order.

"So, is my little brother gonna make it?" She asked.

"He will, but it's going to be close." Nelrim said. He looked up at her. "I need you to do what I say, when I say it."

Anko grew determined, and nodded.

"It's going to be a long night." Kina said. Naruto suddenly screamed out.

"Okay, Anko. Get ready. His body is going to start changing soon, and it'll rip itself apart." Nelrim said.

Anko watched in hopes that Naruto will be okay.

–

CLIFFHANGER NO JUTSU!

Sorry folks, but this chapter is 15 pages long, and my usual limit is 15 in one sitting.

Okay, so I lied. NEXT chapter is the ending of the Zabuza saga... mostly, and a return trip to Konoha, and explanations, and people groveling for forgiveness, and Sasuke getting ra-

enough of that...

**I honestly need opinions about this one guys. I don't do fight scenes that well, or even at a mediocre degree. If you see anything that's wrong with any of the fight scenes, please tell me.**

One: First person to guess where this came from gets a virtual cookie

Two: Don't cha hate me when I do that?

That's all for now folks. See ya.

* * *

Omake: Chapter 1 The final exam day...

Hinata had a hard morning. She couldn't sleep last night. The thought of being on Naruto's team just stayed on her mind. Over and over.

She got up tiredly, showered, dressed, and ate a small breakfast.

She moved out the door, and walked slowly, not really thinking on the way there. She made it to the classroom 10 minutes early, like always.

She sat down in the back, and waited for the final day to start.

Naruto came in later, and sat near Sasuke. She was kind of sad that he didn't sit next to her.

Two minutes later, the two banshees came running into the room. The two rambled on for a second, until one of them noticed Naruto. She yelled at him, he froze, looked at Sasuke next to him, and quickly moved out of the seat.

Hinata was mad at the pink haired one for yelling at Naruto. _'Wait, I'm... mad?'_

She suddenly felt a presence near her. It was Naruto.

_'OMG OMG OMG OMG! He's sitting next to me!'_ She yelled in her mind.

"Hello," He said.

"H-hello, N-n-Naruto." She blushed a bit more. _'Why can't I talk straight to him?'_

The fox jumped off of Naruto's shoulder. Kina approached her slowly. _'Well hello there little fox-chan. Are you cute, or what?'_ She thought in her mind.

_'She seems to like me.'_ Hinata petted her a little. _'Wait, if she likes me, then doesn't that mean that Naruto likes me? If a person's pet likes me, then that conveys their feelings? Wait, how do I know that. But more importantly, Naruto might like me? Naruto Might like me? Narutolikesme? Narutolikesme? Naruto!?'_

She promptly fainted. In the back of her head, a blue cat was laughing her tails off. Kina walks off. _'I knew it._' Kina says in her mind to Naruto.

_'What'd you do to her?' _Naruto asks her.

_'Nothing, but I was only proving my thoughts.'_

_'again.... huh?' _Naruto wondered...


	10. Chapter 9 and 10: Beginnings of Reality

Hey everyone. Snipa here. I'm in the car traveling to my ski trip. So excuse me if some of my typing is off. I was riding along in the back seat of the van when some of my music made me want to write. SOOOOO, I thought _'Why not work on my fanfic'_ so here it is.

XXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 9: Beginnings of Reality

Naruto's consciousness slowly drifted into reality. The first thing he felt was pain. Massive pain. Everywhere throughout his body.

"Good he's made it through the first stage." Said an eerily deep voice. Naruto couldn't tell who it was. He was having trouble just thinking straight. "Naruto, I need to ask you something. I know you're in pain, but concentrate on your arms. Specifically, your shoulders and elbows." Naruto found it hard to think ANYTHING, but he tried to comply. He felt a cold sensation in his elbows, but a hot sensation in his shoulders. "Good. Anko, I want you to place hot water bags on his shoulders, and ice packs on his elbows. Next up, Naruto, I want you to concentrate on your legs, and like before, mostly your joints." Naruto felt something being placed on his arms, but moved on to his legs. He felt cold sensation in his knees, and hot in his hip joints. "Anko, place hot water bags on his knees, and cold packs on his hip sockets." He felt soothing temperatures on his legs. "Now, this will be the most painful part, Naruto." wave of pain swept throughout his body. "Shit, pain medicine now!" He felt a sting in his arm. "Naruto, whatever you do, do NOT pass out. You must stay awake as long as you can. The longer you stay awake the better you have of living. Now, I want you to try and flex your left hand." Naruto complied, and as soon as he did, he felt pain arch through his hand. "Okay, apply some ice to his left hand. Flex your other hand, Naruto." He flexed his right hand, oddly enough, he couldn't feel it. "Crap, his right hand has almost neutralized itself. Some heat on the hand should fix it up. Now, wiggle your toes." Naruto tried, but he couldn't feel them at all. "Get some heat on his feet right now. I'll try to keep them alive with my power." Naruto felt a massive burning and prickling sensation run through his feet and up his shins. It was so painful he almost blacked out, but he hung on for dear life. "Naurto, live with it, my boy. To take your mind off your body. I'm going to tell you what's happening. Your body is changing itself. How you have the Forbidden bloodline, I have no clue."

_''Wait, forbidden bloodline?'_ Thought everyone in the cave.

"Yes, It's the forbidden bloodline, and it's very fatal, even with all our precautions. Heck, we could have better equipment, but his survival rate would only reach 32 percent. As such, I think a 31 percent is what it's at right now."

"So, what's happening to him?" Asked a feminine but harsh voice.

"Well... The bloodline change consists of four stages. First stage always has a 100 percent survival rate, but that's also the longest part, and would've taken several years to do, if Naruto didn't use it so early. It hardens the vital organs, like the heart, the lungs the digestive track for higher gravity states, such as moving at around twice the speed of sound. At the end of the process, the user would have been knocked out painlessly for three days."

Silence. Naruto thought they all looked at the source of the deep voice like it was crazy. Hell, he would. Too, if he weren't in pain.

"Is... is it really that much?" Said the women. Naruto still couldn't think straight.

"Yes. Now the second part is where the being will awaken to a semi-conscious state. I pulled him the rest of the way to consciousness so that we could find out how his joints will harden. That's what second stage is about. It hardens the bones, massages the muscles forcibly to wear them down to a point and then rebuild them, thus making them much stronger. Now if only the bones and muscles hardened, which, let me tell you is painless compared to the joints, then the joints would break under pressure. Thus the joints reconstruct themselves, and harden, depending on how the body has experienced life thus far. His elbows and knees are hardening to a point of near steel like state. They will still have the flexibility, and motion as they had before, just VERY hard to break. His shoulder's and hips, though, is quite different. They've become even more flexible. He will be able to move them in a wider range before, and have more strength in them."

"So, in short, his body is getting a major reconstruction?" asked the female voice.

"Yes, and it seems to be calming down. His body is almost done with this set." Naruto thought this true, as he could make whole thoughts, he even identified the voices. Nelrim and Anko.

"So, what's the next stage, and how many are there?"

"To answer the latter, four. To answer the former, well," There was a pause in the air, "His senses are going to get a major boost. And what I mean major, is that he'll surpass even your senses Kina."

There was another pregnant pause. "When will it happen?"

"In about 30 minutes, if Naruto manages to stay awake that long. If he doesn't, well, the next stage will begin immediately. The survival rate of stage three depends on how long he can stay awake. Right now, if he manages, he'll have a 56% survival rate."

_'How long?'_ Naruto thought, knowing the answer will be given.

"About 7 hours. Remember it's all your senses, even touch, and, as some of you humans call it, guts."

Now this brought along a funny atmosphere. Anko giggled, "Wait, you're telling us that our 'gut feeling' is real?"

"Yes, but sadly, even you ninja, have a watered down version that all other beings have easily. Why do you think it's so hard to kill a deer? Make even one wrong move, and it's gone."

Another pregnant pause. "So, when he says 'get down' you would trust his senses... wouldn't you?"

"Correct once again, Anko. You're such a bright girl."

…

"Okay, that might've pushed things." Nelrim deadpanned.

"You think?" Anko retorted. "Um, what's the last stage?"

Another pause. "His brain will completely shutdown to rewire his synapses."

Anko spoke up, "Smaller more meaningful words, please."

Nelrim sighed. "Meaning, that his brain will go silent, and reconstruct itself so that he can think faster. During this process, he will die, but his body should restart itself once the stage is complete. During this time, his bloodline's chakra will keep his body fresh. That's not the problem. No the problem occurs when the special chakra leaves his body, to to be replaced by normal chakra, and restart. It's during this time, that his well being, and soul will be in danger. As you know, chakra is your people's life source. And as such, it is the binder of your soul to your body. It literally is made of both your body's energies. Since there is no chakra in parts of his body, his soul could slip away, and he will die in a true sense." There was a pause in the air, and Naruto didn't know what to think.

"Could... could I force my energy into him when this.. special.. chakra is receding?" Kina spoke up for the first time.

Nelrim sighed, "As with several things, that's a big fat 'I wish.'" Nelrim said. "Remember, your energy is yokou, or demonic spiritual energy. His soul isn't demonic, even if he is a hanyou."

Anko spoke up, "What about my chakra?"

Nelrim kept it short and sweet... "It's corrupted by a snake." ….with a side of harshness. "No, the chakra has to be his chakra, it has to be."

"How lo-" Anko started.

"About 5 hours in the final stage, thus becoming three days, counting the past two and a half days for the entire process. Since Naruto decided to make it short and painful, it'll be short and painful."

"Ouch," was all Anko stated.

Kina spoke up, "I feel the chakra shifting."

"Okay, he's entering stage three, everyone, preparations like I said?"

Anko and Kina called out, "Hai!"

And Naruto didn't hear anything, anymore.

–

Hinata woke up slowly. Her talk with the demon, Nibi, left her thinking deeply about what the cat said. In all sense, everything the cat talked about was true, every bit of it. Even though the cat was harsh about it.

_Flashback_

_Hinata rubbed her ears out, just to make sure she heard right. "Could you say your name again?" she asked._

"_Certainly, my name is Hiraku."_

_Now, this name might not mean much to many people, but then again, many people weren't Hyuuga. "As in, my mother?" she asked, being too hopeful._

"_No, sorry kitten. I am not your mother, although, your mother was a very sweet woman. I liked her a lot." The Nibi said._

"_You knew my mother?"_

"_Yes, she was quite outgoing, even for a Hyuuga. Then again, with the way I raised her practically on my own, she was going to be that way." Hiraku said cheerfully. She noticed the down mood of the kitten. "Hey, don't be like that. You wont get your mate-to-be's attention being all sad."_

_Hinata face went tomato red. How she had blood run to her head even in her mind, Nibi will never know. She chuckled. "Hinata," she started, and rapped a furry tail around the girl, and dragged her closer, "It's okay to be embarrassed, but if you always pass out, how will you tell the boy you love him?"_

_Hinata looked down._

"_Wow, and I thought your father had confidence issues."_

_At this Hinata stared disbelieving at the cat._

"_What? You don't believe me? Your father was quite the shy kid. He couldn't get near your mother before he stuttered, and then passed out in embarrassment."_

"_A-are you telling me that my father could blush!?" with that the quiet Hinata was gone, and in her place was a normal girl. Of course, with all normal little girls, they had devious thought about how to annoy their fathers. "Could.. could you tell me if I could, um... make him pass out?"_

_Hiraku blinked once, then once more before getting a sly grin. "Weeelll... If I remember correctly, his greatest weakness was always sexual innuendos."_

"_Um, what's a 'sexual innuendo?'" Hinata said._

_The cat chuckled. "We'll get to that later, but first, I have to give you a bit of thought food. How much effort does Naruto put into his training?"_

"_A lot. He trains until he drops everyday, from the way I have seen him when I well... follow him home." Hinata said shyly._

_Hiraku made a sly grin. "And, even though he is young, what would he look for in a girl when he starts noticing the females?"_

_Hinata didn't need to think about it much. "He would want someone who could dedicate herself to her life's goals?"_

"_Absolutely, kitten. Now, how are you going to show him that you are dedicated to him?" she asked, pushing the girl's thoughts in the right direction._

"_I would need to show that I could train myself, that I can hold myself, yet look to him in times of need. I would be... dependent, yet independent?"_

_The cat smiled. "Welcome to the world of your element kitten. The element of water..."_

End flashback

Hinata then thought about what Hiraku said. That water is, in a way, a contradiction.

"_To be calm at some moments, and then rushing at the next. To be a smooth calming sensation, and then a torrent. To move gracefully, and then fiercely. Water is, in itself, a contradiction of nature."_ Hiraku's voice echoed through her mind. Hinata jerked and looked around.

_'Huh? Hiraku-dono, where are you?'_ Hinata thought.

"_Tee-hee, I'm in your mind, little kitten. Oh, and quit the formalities, just call me Raku-chan. You can talk to me anytime, although I might be taking a cat nap at the time, unless we're in a battle. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask. Oh, I feel someone coming into the room."_

Hinata looked to the door, and sure enough, Kurenai came in.

"Oh, Hinata-chan. You're up. That's a relief." Kurenai closed the door behind and sat on the bed Hinata was in. "You've been asleep for three days."

"Uno, what happened? Raku-sama" "_Sigh, I said chan." _"I mean Raku-chan," she said it as if it was weird, "told me about herself."

Kurenai looked at Hinata seriously. "You've met her? She talked to you?"

"Kurenai-sensei, do you know about Raku-chan?" Hinata asked.

"Yes, when you were assigned to my team, I was given the full profiles on all three of you." Kurenai said. "You know, you all have something inside each of you. The Aburame have their bugs, but that is widely known. Then you have yourself, you have Hikaru, the two tailed cat, inside of you. The there is Naruto, but I can't discuss about him, due to a law."

"You mean about who Kina-chan really is?" Hinata asked knowingly.

"Ho-... Hiraku told you, didn't she?" Kurenai asked.

"Hai."

"Well, that's why this team was formed. You could all relate to one another. Naruto doesn't exactly know about other jinchuurikis, and I don't know if Kina knows either. It's up to you to tell him, if he doesn't know." Kurenai said.

"What happened at the bridge?" Hinata asked again.

"To be blunt, you went crazy. You killed Gato by ripping him apart." Kurenai said.

Hinata looked a little green. "I... I did that?"

"Yes. It's okay, he deserved worse actually." Kurenai said.

"It still doesn't change th-that I killed someone." she looked at her hands, and then back up at Kurenai. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Kurenai did the motherly thing at that moment, and brought Hinata into a hug, and let the girl cry. After about half an hour's worth of crying, the girl calmed down. "There, Hinata-chan. If it makes you feel better, you weren't in control at the time. It wasn't you that really did it."

Hinata nodded numbly, but still felt bad. But there was still something that Hinata needed to know.

Hinata looked back up. "Um, could you tell me how Raku-chan knows my mother, and how she even knows my father as well?" she asked. "I mean, Raku-chan was avoiding it whenever I brought is up."

"You know, you haven't stuttered once during this conversation." Kurenai winged right by the subject and posted a new one. Luckily it worked.

Hinata blushed a little and looked to her feet that were still under the covers.

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan. That's a good thing. Try to do that more, and I'm sure you can be better friends with Naruto-san."

When she said that, Hinata went beet red, but didn't faint. "Do... do you think so?"

"I know so." _'Yes! I avoided it, now she'll just ask her father, and we can all live a little longer.'_ Kurenai was jumping up and down in joy in her head. _'Just mention her crush once, and she goes onto a one track mind.'_

"O-okay, I'll try more." A look of confidence showed in her eyes.

"That's my girl. But for now you should rest up."

"Thanks, Kurenai-sensei." she smiled, a true smile. It dazzled Kurenai for a second, and then did something neither would have expected.

Kurenai pounced Hinata.

"Sooo, cute! Smile like that more often, Hinata-chan, and Naruto will be all over you." Only then did a logical thought hit her head.. _'Uh, oh.'_ Hinata passed out. _'Damn, a relapse... Oh, well. She did show some confidence today. That's a start.'_ Kurenai got up, tucked the girl in, and then walked out of the room. She heard someone say something about a log, and called out "AMEN!"

As she was walking down the hall, she ran into Kiba. "Kurenai-sensei. Naruto is back, he's outside the front door. How is Hinata-chan?"

"She's woken up, but she went back to sleep. Tough day in her head."

"Oooookaaay.... Whatever, I'll be relaxing in my room. Oh, and before I forget, Kakashi-sensei wanted to talk to you about something." With that Kiba walked off.

–

Naruto came into consciousness. He woke up slowly, his body no longer in pain, but it felt... different. He opened his eyes slowly. He shut his eyes, and then opened them slowly once more, getting used to the light. Funny thing is, there was almost no light in the cave.

_'Wait, cave?'_ Naruto thought. _'How did I get here?'_

"That's simple, Naruto. I brought you here for your bloodline awakening." Nelrim's voice rang through the cave. "You almost died on us Naruto. Your soul almost slipped away."

"Ah, Nii-chan woke up?" Anko said. She walked over to him. "Good to see you alive squirt." she said as she looked him in the eyes. "Is it me, or did your eyes become slightly less blue, and slightly more silverish?" she asked.

"My eyes?" Naruto asked.

"She's right." Kina said.

A voice echoed through the air. _"Too bad, you wont remember this."_

"Huh?" he asked. "Did you guy hear that?"

"Hear what?" Kina asked. Nelrim's eyes were wide.

_'It couldn't be.'_ he thought. He quickly brought himself back to the world, and said, "Naruto, go ahead and try to get up, but take it easy."

He slowly got up, tensing his muscles in just the right way. _'Wait, how did I... nevermind, that thought later.'_ Naruto looked around him. The cave was simple, just a one way with a dead end at the other. In the dead end was a bed that he was on. At the foot of the bed, was a table lined with several bags and chemicals... and needles. Naruto shivered at the sight of them. He went to put his feet on the ground.

When his foot touched the ground, something felt different. He flexed the muscles in his legs for a second.

"That's good Naruto. Let your mind get used to your body. One step at a time. How are you feeling?" Nelrim asked.

"Good." he responded. "Actually, better then good. I've never felt better in my entire life!" he yelled out. _'Wait, I yelled.'_ He took in a deep breath, then yelled at the top of his lungs. "THIS FEELS GREAT!" His voice didn't crack, his throat didn't hurt. He was starting to get exited. He put his other foot on the ground, and stood up. He over balanced, and almost fell. He re-corrected his balance, and stood tall. His tail wagged out from behind him. His ears danced on his head, listening to all the new sounds he could pick up, and then deciphering them. He hopped on his feet a couple of times, and then made to walk. He took one step. Then another. It was like being in a better body.

"That's great, Naruto-kun." Anko said. "Looks like you'll be up and running in no time. Naruto, take it easy. Don't jog out of the cave... don't run into the forest!"

"Don't worry, I'll get him when he's tired." Nelrim said, and disappeared.

–

Naruto was running at full speed. He could calculate where he was going to run 10 steps ahead of himself. He quickened his pace even more, pushing his own limits. He saw a lake up ahead and smiled.

When he reached the lake, he didn't stop, he just kept on running. He turned and started to go upriver. About a mile later, Naruto was starting to slow down. When he stopped he was at the islands only mountain... maybe it should be classified as a big hill. Either way, He chucked, and then went into a joyful laughter.

"It's good to see you running again, my boy." Nelrim said, as he appeared on Naruto's shoulder. "Now, let's head back to the cave."

"Ah, ok-"

–

Back in the cave.

Anko was getting worried about the little brat, when Nelrim and Naruto poofed back in.

"-ay. Please ruin my..." Naruto looked at the cat. "Sometimes, I hate you."

Anko smiled, "Heya, squirt. Have a nice run?"

"YEA!" Naruto yelled out in joy, "It felt wonderful."

"Well, consider that your only fun, because now that you have an upgraded body, we're going to train you a whole lot more. Isn't that right, Anko?" Kina said.

"Oh, the pointy things must fly at fox boy. They WILL fly at fox boy." Anko said evilly.

Naruto could only gulp. He tried to change the subject. "You and Tenten-san would get along nicely." Naruto said. He's known about the weapon lover for 2 years now, but only on fleeting glances, and the occasional rave about pointy weapons.

Anko kept on her evil grin. "I'll have to meet this girl when we get back. Now, on to more serious matters, I think Nelrim has a few tests for you to run."

Kina added her two cents. "Naruto-kun, Be careful on these tests. Though we will control them, you can still die. These tests are to see if you have fully awakened your bloodline."

"Quite right, Kina-san. Are you up for a few test runs?" Nelrim asked.

Naruto smirked. "How hard could they be?"

"Well... for the first test, we'll be pushing you to about 5 Gs, then we'll max out those gravity seals, and the final test will be a secret." Kina explained.

"Doesn't sound too hard."

All three of the others just smirked. "We'll see, my boy. We'll see. You ready?" Nelrim asked.

"About as ready as I'll ever beeeEEEEEEE!" Kina had grown to 5 tails form behind Naruto, and then picked him up on her back, and took off into the woods.

"He's screwed, isn't he?" Anko said more then asked.

"Yeap." Nelrim answered anyways. About two seconds later a gigantic sonic boom was heard, along with what sounded like a yell in joy or for help. Neither could figure it out.

About 10 minutes later, Kina came back with a dizzy Naruto on her back. "Well, he lasted 7 minutes at 3 times the speed of sound (That's 2142 miles per hour for you non-math lovers), but he still has a good grip."

"That's good, he only needed to last 3 minutes." Nelrim said. "Now let him rest up. Kina could you go ahead and start bumping up the gravity seals to 22.5x gravity each?" he asked.

"Are you sure he wont break? I mean... it is kinda pushing it." Kina asked. "With 5 seals on him and all."

"Wait," Anko interjected. "He has 5 seals on him? How much each?"

"Well, currently... he's at 4.5 gravity each. We have to go 5 times higher then that to test him." Nelrim said.

"Can he-" Anko started.

"No, he can only release the seals halfway on his own. He needs either Kina's or my permission to fully release them." Nelrim said.

"Ah, okay." Anko said.

A few minutes later, Naruto woke up. "Who got the number on that fox?" he said shaken.

"Welcome back, Naruto." Nelrim said. "Are you ready for you next test?"

"In a minute, I can't move anything." Naruto said.

Nelrim laughed. "We've already bumped up your gravity seals."

"Oh, I was wondering why I felt a weight crushing my chest." Naruto said. He took it slowly, but he managed to stand up... okay he was slouching and his arms were about to drag on the ground. His tail was dragging as well. "Damn. This is heavy."

"Welcome to about 20 times your body weight, and 5 times what you normally wear. This next test is all about strength and endurance. Mainly, you're going to jog. For 5 miles, if you can make it more then that, then you're good. The reason why I say 5 miles, is because that's how far away from Tazuna's house is." Nelrim said.

"You know something, Nelrim?"

"You hate me?"

"Yeap."

"Good, catch me if you can, pipsqueak." Nelrim said.

"ARE YOU CALLING ME SMALLER THEN A CUPCAKE!?" Naruto said.

Anko and Kina were laughing behind Naruto, both knowing that Nelrim was getting Naruto riled up.

"Actually I was calling you smaller then that." Nelrim said. He popped about 5 feet away when Naruto lunged for him. "Come on, small fry. I thought you were fast." Naruto started running for him. Nelrim always blinked about 5 feet ahead of him, 'encouraging' the boy on.

Anko spoke up, "50 ryo says Naruto can't catch the little kitty before they get to Tazuna's house."

Kina looked at her like she was nuts. "Normally, I wouldn't EVER bet against that, but I'm feeling lucky. 50 ryo says that he catches the cat before they get to Tazuna's house him." Kina held out her paw.

Anko shook it, "Deal."

–

Kakashi was on the porch, just reading along, when a cat popped into existence right next to him.

Kakashi noted the cat, but kept reading.

About 5 minutes later, a half dead Naruto, crawling on all fours, with his tail dragging behind him, made a death glare at the cat. "I'm gonna getcha, you stupid cat."

"Oh come now, Naruto. You can catch me. Or are you just to short to keep up with those stubby little legs?" The cat said in a eerily deep voice.

Now, Kakashi loves to read, but at that moment, he couldn't help but stare at the sight before him.

Naruto got up on two feet, and took a step forward. "What did you say about stubby legs?"

"That you have them?" Nelrim asked sarcastically.

Naruto ran forward, or tried to. He looked like he was in slow motion. All of a sudden, Naruto's eyes glowed a little, and he sped up to a normal running speed. He lunged at the cat, and caught him.

"Hah! I got you know, you little rascal." Naruto said.

Sasuke came out at that exact moment. He looked to Kakashi first, and then at Naruto, who looked happy to be holding something down. Sasuke looked a little more closely, then said, "Uh, Dobe?"

"Yea, teme?"

"Uh, why are you holding down a log?"

Naruto looked down, and indeed it was a log.

Nelrim's voice popped out behind Sasuke, "Behold. The mighty log. It is holy in all its ways, and forever be engraved in our hearts."

Kakashi spoke up, "Amen." and a distant one was heard by Kurenai in the back.

Naruto looked at the log, then at Kakashi. "Okay, that was a little freaky."

"Hold up the mighty log, Naruto, and your second test shall be completed." Nelrim said, in a deep righteous like voice, losing the creepiness, and then regaining it in a different way.

"Right." Naruto said, and he struggled, but he finally managed to stand up straight, with a 50 pound log over his head. In the heat of the moment, he couldn't help himself. "BEHOLD, THE ALMIGHTY LOG!"

With that, Sasuke walked right back into the house, mumbling something about circus clowns.

"Good job, Naruto." Nelrim said, "Your second test is complete. Tomorrow will be your final test, and the hardest of the three."

"Uh, Not to be rude or anything, but um... How do you know Naruto?" Kakashi asked the cat.

"Ah, sorry about that, Kakashi." Nelrim started, "My name is Gin Nelrim, Secondary Successor to Siete. I'm here on a favor helping Naruto."

"Ah, okay. Hatake Kakashi. Most just call me the copy ninja." he responded.

"Who's Siete?" Naruto asked.

"Later, boy. Much, much later." Nelrim answered. "And to answer your next question, Kakashi, yes, I am a dangerously powerful cat who could wipe out civilization as we know it."

Kakashi went wide eyed. His mind racing, and danger alarms went up.

"Oh, and no, we're not in a Gnejutsu, since I can't do those exactly, but I can read your mind. It's like an open book." Nelrim stopped for a second. "No, I wont be telling any village secrets out to anyone... okay maybe Naruto, but no one else, as I am barely allowed inside the borders of the elemental countries as it is."

Naruto spoke up, "Aaaaaaand that's about how far I got, before Nelrim stops answering questions."

"Same here." Anko said, as she showed up behind Naruto with Kina on her shoulder.

"Anko, what are you doing out here?" Kakashi asked.

"Well, I was on my way to my house, when suddenly I was teleported here by Nelrim to help the brat out with his bloodline awakening."

Kiba walked out at that moment, "Oh, look. It's the dead last. I'm surprised you aren't dead. I mean your fox went ballistic then took off with you."

Kakashi spoke up, "Kiba, go get Kurenai-san, I need to talk to her for a second."

Kiba nodded, and went back in. A few seconds later, Kurenai came out. She saw the silver-haired boy, and then pulled him up into a hug.

"Good to see you back, Naruto-kun. I knew you'd be back." Kurenai said.

"Can't breathe."

"Oops, sorry." Kurenai said.

Naruto looked back to Kina, "It's great to have this crushing feeling and all, but could you... um.. well.." Kina nodded, glowed red for a second, and Naruto took in a deep breath, "Thanks, Kina-chan."

Kakashi spoke up then, "Now, what was it you were talking about... a bloodline of sorts? And Naruto having one?"

Nelrim just looked at Kakashi for a second, and then said, "That is not something that we can disclose, and neither can Naruto, since he doesn't know what it is yet."

"Alright," Kurenai started, "Can you at least give us the basics on it? Like is it dangerous, or..."

"Well, the awakening process is fatal, but he should be fine now."

"So, back on the bridge, was that his bloodline waking up?" Kurenai asked.

"Well, yes and no. Yes, that was the start of it. No, because he had used his bloodline before it awakened. Don't ask, it's complicated. All I can tell you is the name given to it in my world. The Forbidden Bloodline. The Queen's Blood. The King's Soul. The Shadow's Release. It has many other names, but those are the main ones. Although his runs on chakra, so I think it's a sub-category type."

"What do you mean, 'runs on chakra?'" Kakashi asked.

"Well, as the earliest three names suggest, life force or blood. The most powerful of them running on blood with life force as a second. I have the bloodline myself, the blood version, which is quite a bit deadlier and comes at a horrible price. I wonder how Naruto's will turn out. There are so many differences as it is."

"Why do people call it The Shadow's Release?" Kakashi asked.

"Because, most of the users of the bloodline, the blood version, walk in the shadows of society. We are not welcomed among the general populace." Nelrim said. "Here in the elemental countries, we are almost unheard of, so we can walk around more in the open. If we can get in, that is."

"Okay, sooo, what's for dinner?" Naruto asked. He knew that Nerlim wouldn't want to talk anymore. The cat barely ever talks that much.

Kakashi and Kurenai got the hint, and Kurenai spoke up, "Well, let's go ask Tsunami." Kina perked up, and hopped off Anko's shoulder, and into Naruto's arms.

Anko looked a bit sad, but then got happier. "Kina, you owe me 50 Ryo."

Kina put her nose under her paw, as a sign of depression.

As they were walking in, Naruto had to ask, "Oh, what happened on the bridge after I left?"

"Well, Hinata-chan went off, and killed Gato. Brutally, might I add." Kurenai said.

"Then the villagers came by to fight off the already destroyed by Kina army." Kakashi said.

"What about Zabuza, and Haku?" Naruto asked. "And, is Hinata-chan alright?"

"Well, we brought both Haku and her father Zabuza to the house. At first we kept an eye on them, but now we think they don't really care." Kakashi said.

"Hinata-chan is alright, if a bit depressed, when she learned about it." Kurenai said.

"Wait, Zabuza.. as in Momochi Zabuza?" Anko asked.

"The same." Kakashi answered.

Anko had stars in her eyes. "He's here!?" and then rushed off to pounce the swordsman.

"Uh, why did she run off like that?" Kurenai asked.

Naruto mumbled. "It's more for his sword then him." Naruto pricked his ears up. "Wait for iiit. Now."

Sure enough, a loud bang was heard, and Zabuza walked into the hallway in front of the group, he had Anko over his shoulder.

"Hey, brat. Nice to see you." he gestured to Anko, "This belong to you?"

"Um," Naruto said, deciding the pros and cons. He sighed, "Yea, she's somewhat my older surrogate sister."

"Okay, she looked really happy to see me though. Could you tell me why?"

Naruto thought about the right way to say it. "Um, ever met any of those girls who like shiny, sharp, and/or pointy things?" he asked.

"Yea, A few back in my old village and my daughter... Wait..." he deadpanned, "This is one, isn't she?"

"Yeap, she's your problem now, sucka." With that Naruto ran into the kitchen as Anko was stirring.

"Shit." Zabuza said.

"WHERE'S THE SHARP SWORD!" Anko yelled out.

Zabuza chuckled, "You and Haku would get along nicely."

"Yes, I get that a lot. Now give me the sword." she said in a 'no joke' business.

Zabuza slowly put down the girl, walked into the living room, and said slowly, "Haku, meet your new friend. No, not another pointy thing. It's a playmate of sorts, she likes sharp pointy things, too."

Anko walked into the room, and saw that Haku was cleaning and hugging Zabuza's sword. Anko immediately jumped onto the couch, and got her face up as close as she could to study it in fine detail.

"Hello," Haku said. "My name is Haku, what's yours?"

"Mitarashi Anko. Just Anko from you though... Do you like Dangos?" She asked.

Haku's mouth watered for a second. "Oh, Dangos are good."

"Hello, my new best friend." Anko said in a joyful voice, and smiled.

Kakashi and Kurenai both deadpanned. "Those two would get along nicely with Kushina."

Up in heaven.

"HELL YES, I WOULD, RED!"

Back down at earth.

Kakashi patted his ear for a second. "Did you hear something?"

"Say what?" Kurenai asked.

"Nothing."

–

The next day.

Hinata stirred from her blissful sleep as the sun woke her up. Hinata grumbled for a bit, but succumbed to consciousness. She got up, and gathered her supplies for the day. She left the room, and headed downstairs to get some breakfast.

"Oh, hello Hinata-chan!" Naruto greeted her.

"Hello, Naruto-kun." Hinata said, She saw Kina on Naruto's lap. "Hello, Kina-chan." She went to pet the fox, and said to her. "Hiraku-chan told me to tell you that I know who you are."

With that Kina stopped, and starred straight into Hinata's eyes. The fox looked deep, and then saw what she was looking for. Two very, very faint blue slits where her pupils would be. _'Naruto, forget breakfast. Grab the girl, and go up into a private room.'_

Naruto almost choked. _'Why should I do that?'_ He thought back. He set his bowl of cereal down.

_'Just do it.'_

"Fine, fine." he said aloud, and he put his bowl in the sink, and dragged Hinata to a room upstairs. She was a little red at the feeling of his hand on hers, but before they knew it, they were in a private room. The door locked.

Kina glowed for a second, and then the room glowed. "Okay, we can talk now." she said, "The room is sealed."

"What's the big idea, Kina-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Well, for one, Naruto-kun. You aren't the only Jinchuuriki in Konoha. Meet the other one, Hyuuga Hinata, jinchuuriki of the **Nibi no Bakeneko**, Also known as Hiraku." Kina said aloud.

Naruto just let his jaw drop open, while his eyes almost popped out. After a few seconds he gained control again and said, "I'm... not the only one." He said aloud.

Kina nodded.

"I just can't believe it. There was another in the town. When did you find out?" he asked her.

"Well, I can't remember all that much, all I knew was that on the bridge during the fight, My vision was getting hazy and dark bluish. After that, I woke up in my mind, and met her." Hinata said.

"Huh? You can meet your demon in your.. mind?" Naruto asked. "How does that work?"

"Well, we would, too, Naruto-kun, but I'm out here. Sure my power may be in you, but I'm out here. Otherwise, to talk to you, I would've called you into your mind to talk to you, or set up a mental link to your mind, just like the one we have, right now."

"_Like what I'm doing."_ Raku said in Hinata's mind.

"So how would I go into my mind like that?" Naruto asked.

"Well, it's different for you yourself for going in, but we demons can call our container's minds to the inside." Kina said, "But that's on two conditions. One, is that if we sealed ourselves in. Or, two Are forcibly sealed in, but some yokou can leak out, and mix refreshingly with the container's. Luckily, the fourth hokage was able to create such an advanced seal, or else I'd probably still be stuck in there with no light."

"Um, a question." Hinata spoke up. "Can... Can I bring Raku-chan out here?"

"Yes, and no. Yes if both parties are willing, no if she doesn't want to come out, of which wont be likely." Kina said.

"So, how do I?"

"I'll let her tell you, as each demon has their own way of being summoned out, even if completely sealed."

"_She's right. Just do what I tell you to do, and hurry, I wanna greet my master." _Hiraku said.

A few seconds later, Hinata did three handsigns, and then placed her hand straight out, palm up. "Kuchiyose: Nekomato." A poof appeared on her hand. Once the little cloud cleared, there stood in her hand was a little kitten. The little kitten went into a striking position, tail in the air, and pounced onto Kina, who knew it was coming.

"KINA-SAMA!" The kitten, then snuggled up to the fox. The kitten was a dark blue, with mixed light blue, and black strips all over her body, or was it the other way around?

Kina chuckled at the kitten's antics. "Hello there Raku-chan. Good to see you too."

If Sakura, Ino, or Kurenai walked in on that moment, they would have proclaimed it the cutest thing in the world.

"I missed you, master." Raku said, and soundly went to sleep curled up against Kina. Kina wrapped her tail around the kitten.

Hinata, by this time, was struggling to not disrupt the scene by hugging the two of them. Naruto was just plain laughing in the back. Hinata looked to Naruto, and then back at the two animals. Then back at Naruto. "Ah, what the heck." She pounced the fox boy.

"My, my. You seem to have worked Hinata out of her shell. Nice job." Kina said.

"Yea, the girl was just too shy for me, so I kinda changed some of her mind around a bit. Not enough to change her completely, but enough to get rid of the shyness." Raku said, looking up to see Naruto struggle out of a bear hug of doom. The girl was blushing madly, but she couldn't stop herself.

"That wont have any adverse side-effects... would it?" Kina asked, really worried, and for good reason, too. Whenever you mess with someone's mind to change their personality, something unintended will happen.

"Well, she might grow fonder of certain things, and she might just kill Naruto in a death hug, but it shouldn't be all that bad. Oh, and before I forget, I already started weaving 'that' on her." Raku said.

"Oh? So you'll actually bind yourself to the girl permanently?" Kina asked.

The kitten shrugged somehow, "Might as well. You're bound with Naruto for the rest of his life, and I know you started weaving it as well. I started the day you did."

"So, when she's 18?" Kina asked.

"Yea. Now, onto more important things." The kitten with a small girl voice pounced Kina again, and went to sleep against her.

Naruto... he passed out.

Kina spoke up. "Hinata-chan, you dear girl. I would let up on the hugging. You might kill him."

Hinata's eyes flew open to check the silver-haired boy. Sure enough, he had swirly eyes, that were on the verge of going into X's.

"Oh, Naruto!" Hinata said, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it."

"'sokay, Hinata-chan. Just.. let me catch my breath." Naruto said still a little out of it.

Hinata just went into a nice smile, and snuggled up to Naruto.

About three hours later, Kurenai walked up to the room, and knocked on the door. No one answered, and Kurenai was getting worried. She slowly opened up the door and peeked in.

The first thing she saw was a sleeping Naruto, and a Hinata snuggled up to him. She smiled at the sight. _'About damn time. I wonder who won the bet?'_

Downstairs

Anko sneezed.

Upstairs

Then she looked down, closer to the door. Now, Kurenai is a jounin, and as such, she should have great control over her motions. See the 'should' in the last sentence? Yea, you know where I'm going with this. Let's just say this much. Kurenai likes kittens... a lot.

–

A few hours even later. Nelrim popped into the room.

"Okay, Naru-..." Nelrim started, but stopped short at the sight. He saw Naruto and Hinata, but that was no surprise to Nelrim. No, what surprised the cat was how Kurenai was holding two animals, one Kina, and the other.. _'Is that Hiraku!?'_ kitten sleeping on top of a sleeping Kurenai holding the two animals down with her arms.

"Oh, good." Kina said. "You're here. Can you pop us out of this lady's hold? She has a death grip."

"Um... sure." Nelrim said. Both popped out of the latters hold, and Kurenai's smile disappeared.

"Thanks, Nelrim." Hiraku said.

"N-no problem, Hiraku-sama." Nelrim smiled a little weakly.

"So, how's un-life, treating you?" The kitten asked.

"N-not that bad. Tell your otherworldly master I said, hi." Nelrim said meekly.

"Oki-doki!" The kitten said.

"Am I missing something?" Kina asked.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Nelrim asked innocently.

"It's nothing, master. He's just scared that I'm the Shinigami's pet and all." The kitten said.

"Oh. Right, why didn't I remember that?" Kina said.

"Wait, you referred to Kina as 'master.'" Nelrim said. "Does that mean she's?"

"No, I just have two masters, Shinigami-sama, and Kina-sama. Shinigami, because I escort the dead for him sometimes... mostly the particularly the nasty ones, he doesn't like dealing with headaches. And Kina-sama for taking care of me when I got injured once while on this plain." The kitten explained. "And because she's cute."

Nelrim got a big sweat drop. "Right. Anyways, time to wake up, fox boy." Nelrim said. He hopped up onto Naruto's stomach, and let his claws go out.

–

"Hinata-chan. I couldn't tell you this earlier, because I was scared at how you might've reacted, but now I'm sure." Naruto said, as he put his hand over hers.

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" She asked shyly.

"Well, I don't know how to say this easily, but after this wonderful date that we had tonight, I just have to tell you."

"What is it, Naruto-kun?" she was getting her hopes up.

"Well, I wanted to tell you, that I l-"

–

"YEOUCH!"

Hinata went into high alert, and looked around to see what happened. It was Nartuo yelling out when he got claws stuck straight into him by a cat. The cat disappeared when Naruto tried to hit it. He looked down at his shirt, and it was torn up by claws.

"Ah, that's ANOTHER shirt you ruined, you stupid cat. And that was such a nice dream, too." Naruto said sadly.

"I know, and I timed it juuuuust right so that I could piss you off." the cat said.

"Haha, very funny, Nelrim." Naruto said sarcastically.

"Yea, I'm evil like that. Anywho, It's nice to meet you finally, Hinata." Nelrim said.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Nelrim-san." Hinata still a little mad herself for her dream being ruined

"Please, just Nelrim. No honorifics. I don't like them."

"Okay, Nelrim-san." she said.

A tick mark appeared on Nelrims head. "Like father, like daughter."

"I think you mean, like mother like daughter." Raku said.

"Ah, you know what I mean." Nelrim said.

"Yea, I do." Raku said affirmatively.

Nelrim then turned to Naruto. "Okay, like I was saying before, would you like to start your next and final test?"

Naruto nodded.

"What does he mean by test, and who is this cat, exactly?" Hinata asked.

"I'll fill ya in later, Hinata-chan." he said, and looked at her. He blushed a little, and then turned back to the cat. "So, when do we start?"

"Oh, in... 3... 2*crash*... 1." When Nelrim said 2, Naruto was flung out of the window.

"Naruto!" Hinata cried out.

"It's okay, kitten. It's just a test." Raku said.

"I hope he's okay."

–

Down on the ground was a stunned Naruto who had his butt up in the air, and over his head. His tail flopped over him.

"I always love doing that." Nelrim said.

Naruto grumbled as he got up.

"Okay, boy. This final test is a test for your reflexes. It's to see if you can stand up to me."

"So what? I dodge both you and Anko at the same time everyday."

"Oh, but I was holding back. You see, I've only been throwing chi spears at you once every 5 seconds with fire and forget thoughts. Do you want to know what I'm going to do now?" Nelrim said.

"Um, Do I want to know?"

"Actually, yes you do. With your gravity seals set to 300 each, and your chakra seals increased, I'm going to throw chi spears at you 5 times per second with a control of each spear's direction, meaning that it will be much harder to dodge. They'll hurt. A lot. So.." a few dozens pits appeared around Naruto. "If you don't mind, I'm going to start now, you might want to as well."

Naruto's eyes widened as he started moving.

"Sometimes," Nelrim said, as he started the spears up, "I love this job."

A grand trail of spears was heading after Naruto, as he dodged left and right.

"You didn't say that he only had to last 30 minutes." Kina said, as she walked right up next to Nelrim.

"Whoops, I think I forgot about that. Should I tell him?" he asked her.

…

"Nah." They both watched as Naruto got chased around.

Anko came out. "My, 'Naruto is going to get pummeled, grab popcorn.' senses were tingling."

"Ah, I figured you would." Nelrim said, a couple box's of popcorn appeared out of nowhere. "You want some?"

Anko grab a box, as Kina and Nelrim shared another.

"Oh, that had to hurt." Anko said. "Try to get him in the jewels."

"What do you think I'm aiming for?" Nelrim said.

"You know, you're an evil cat." Anko asked.

"Heard it a million times." Nelrim said.

"Who says that?" Anko asked.

"Oh, my roommate for starters." Nelrim said.

–

In a nice big house somewhere in New York, a teenager with silver hair was lounging around. He sneezed.

"Huh... I wonder what Merlin is up to? Can't be any good seeing as he's evil and all." the teenager said, and continued to drink a red liquid out of a wine glass.

–

"How is Mekami, anyways, Nelrim?" Kina asked.

"Oh, he's been waiting around. The Game is going to start soon." Nelrim said.

"Ah, okay." Kina said.

"Dare I ask?" Anko asked.

"No." they both said simultaneously.

A sudden scream of pain was heard. Anko smirked. "Didja get 'im?"

"Yeap." Nelrim responded. Naruto appeared in front of Nelrim. "Neh," Nelrim munched on some popcorn, "What's up, doc?"

"You, sir, are disthhhhpicable." Naruto said in a squeaky voice.

"I am, aren't I?" Nelrim said.

Naruto dodged, and hopped a few times using chakra. "Of course," he said between jumps, "You know," jump, "This," jump, "Means war!" Naruto said, as he flung several kunai from several directions, using clones. All the kunai stopped in mid-air around Nelrim.

"Ah, ah, ah, Naruto. This is a test for you." Nelrim said, as the kunai did a 180 and killed off all the clones.

Of course, where was Anko and Kina during all this? Laughing, of course.

–

Hinata was doing the dishes with Tsunami, when the door was flung open. Hinata quickly rushed to it. She gasped at the sight.

Naruto's clothes were in rages, torn to tiny, tiny pieces. Though the strangest thing was, was that Hinata couldn't see a single scratch on Naruto.

"Naruto, what happened to your clothes?" Hinata asked.

"Do you know Tenten?" Naruto asked lazily.

"Um, the girl on my cousin's team? Yes, I've met her a couple times." Hinata said, as she grabbed Naruto before he could fall.

"Imagine her pms'ing."

"Oh." Was all Hinata could respond. She helped the boy into the house, and led him upstairs into one of the bedrooms. She helped him get into a bed, and she took off his shoes. The poor boy fell asleep as soon as the second one was off.

Hinata smiled at the peaceful look that was on his face.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Raku said, as she appeared on Hinata's shoulder.

"Oh, nothing much." she said as she got a blush. She quickly tried to think of something else to say. "Do you think I could get a tail and ears, since I'm a jinchuuriki as well?" Hinata asked, before she could think it over.

The kitten sighed. "I wish. You would be sooo much cuter if you could. The problem is, is that our seal is much different then Naruto's and Kina's."

Hinata looked a little sad at that. "I wish I could get a tail and ears, so That I could be just like him."

"Hinata," Hiraku said in a serious tone. "Be careful for what you wish for." She stopped for a second. "Do you know why you were shunned by most of your clan, and that the elders were so hard on you?"

Hinata, for all her life, could never figure it out. The only one who was easy on her was Hiashi, her father. Even then, he had high hopes for her, and pushed her, too.

"It's because they knew you were a jinchuuriki." Hiraku said. "They knew. You can't hide a seal from a Byakugan's eye. You just can't. And when they saw the seal on your stomach, they knew what you were."

"So, why can't I?" she asked.

"Do you want to get the entire village to kill you?" she asked.

She looked over at the boy, "For him? Yes." She said, a little blush playing out.

"I knew I picked the right one, when I sealed myself away." She said. "Okay, I'll think about a tail and ears, but I get to pick out how they look."

Hinata looked happy for a second, but a question popped into her head. "So, because you're inside me, does that mean that I have too much chakra in me to learn the jyuuken?" Hinata asked.

"No, even with my added reserves to yours, you still have near perfect chakra control."

"It doesn't explain why I can't learn the Jyuuken, though." Hinata said.

"What do most people in you clan have for their elements?" Hiruka asked.

"Earth, why do you ask?"

"Because, with me being inside of you, your main element went from earth, to water and lightning." she said flat out. "The jyuuken is based on the fact that you have a rock hard stance, hence earth. But you, you my dear, are special. You can learn the more advanced and deadlier version since your main element is water."

"How does elements affect your fighting style?" Hinata asked.

"Well, a person's elemental type affects how their chakra flows, and how your body is built. An earth style, for instance, makes the chakra tougher, and harder, while your water and lighting elements makes the chakra flow smoothly and quicker. You couldn't master the earth style version even if you spent your entire life on it. The Jyuuken is too earth chakra heavy. No, you will not learn their styles, I will teach you the long lost water style." The kitten said.

"Hai! When will I start?" Hinata asked eagerly.

"Why do you want to learn it so badly?" Hiraku asked, with a knowing smile.

Hinata looked over to the sleeping boy, "Because, I want to support him. I want to help him shoulder his choices. I want to be with him, and not run him down, because I'm weak."

_'Perfect. Almost no backlashes to the changes in her personality. Wow, Shinigami-sama must be proud that I did this one perfectly.'_ The kitten thought.

In Purgatory

A big figure wearing torn ended black cloak was watching a portal.

"Hehe, almost, Raku-chan. Almost. You missed one teensy little detail." The shinigami laughed a little bit. "Hey, Minato."

A blond man got up from his paper work. "Yes, Shinigami-sama?"

"Your son is going to be in for a real treat."

"Why do you say that?" Minato asked.

"Well, let's just say the girl that caught his eye will be crazy about two things. Him, and an extra something that my favorite pet missed."

Minato sighed, "What did you do this time?"

The Shinigami laughed evilly in answer.

Back on earth

The kitten suddenly got a bad feeling, but shook it off. "So, Nelrim. Did he pass?"

The cat had walked in after Naruto, as well as Kina and Anko. Anko, who doesn't have any control on her emotions, saw the kitten. Do I need to type out what happens?

"Yes, he did." Nelrim said, as Anko cuddled the kitten. "He actually passed 30 minutes into the test, I just kept going."

"That's the evil cat I've come to know and love." Anko said, as she scratched Raku's ears. "So, your Raku, huh?" The kitten looked up at Anko in surprise. "Don't worry, I'm incohoots with nii-kun over there. I wont tell anyone. Oh, and Nelrim was the one who told me, while Naruto was getting his butt chased."

"Ah, okay." The kitten relaxed even more, as Anko scratched her ears. "So, is it official? Has his bloodline awakened?"

"Yes, but sadly, he wont be able to use it to it's full potential for a few years."

"Ah, and, um which bloodline is it?" Hinata asked.

Nelrim stared straight at her. "A chakra version of The Shadow Release."

"H-how!?" The kitten asked. "I thought that the Kagedoushinkai died a long time ago."

"Oh? So that's it's name. How do you know of it?" Nelrim asked.

"You don't drag a few dozen thousand souls to their doom without learning anything." The kitten answered. "But I will tell you this much. Yes, the creator of the bloodline was born from a male Triste and a human female, and yes, the awakening process is exactly the same as a Triste, but that's where it ends. Naruto, is in every way, still alive and kicking. Down to the very fact that his brain is still running at full potential. Not like the forbidden bloodlines where your brain isn't even alive, like yours. He still has a normal human life span as well. He's not immortal."

Nelrim nodded, fully understanding what she meant.

Hinata and Anko were thoroughly confused.

"How... who... nevermind, you're too cute." Anko said.

_'Like putty in my hands.'_ Hiraku thought.

_'I must learn how she does that. I can't seem to do that with these chakra infused humans.'_ Nelrim thought.

Hinata, forgetting everything again when she saw Naruto's face, crawled up onto the bed, and cuddled up to him.

–

The bridge took little over a week to repair and then finish, all thanks due to Naruto and his clones for getting it done earlier then expected. Haku and Zabuza decided to part. Haku would go with the group, while Zabuza would look over the wave country as a shadow, maybe even start a hidden village.

_'Yea, I like the sound of that. The shodaime kage of the wave country.'_ he thought.

When asked why this was arranged Zabuza sighed and said, "Haku, I want you to go, and make real friends with these people. I'm sure you can, since you're an unregistered ninja. Why I can't come? It would start a war if I went to Konoha, as the kirigakure village would see it as allowing their missing nin into the village."

The group understood, even if Haku protested somewhat.

"What will we do about her name?" Kakashi asked. "I mean we can't just pop into the village and say 'hi we brought Momochi Haku here, daughter of the traitorous swordsman.'"

"He's got a point." Kurenai said. "What do we do?"

"Well," Zabuza started, "Her family name is Salentine."

"Salentine Haku?" Naruto asked. It didn't seem to fit right.

Haku nodded. "But I hate it, as that was my father's family name. I want to use my mother's which is Hyosenra."

"Hyosenra Haku." Naruto said. "Nice name." he smiled.

"Well, this is goodbye, my daughter. Maybe we'll see each other soon." Zabuza said.

"Goodbye, dad." She smiled back.

–

Halfway to Konohagakure, a strange girl with neon green hair was walking the opposite way that the group was. She had a bubbily atmosphere around her, and she looked to be of someone sweet. She had an Iwagakure symbol on her headband.

Naruto and the girl caught eyes, a strange pause occurred. Naruto looked to Kina, and nodded his head. He looked back at the girl, and said. "Hello, number 7, I'm number 9, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hello," she answered back. "It's good to know there are others. I'm number 7, Fu."

"Nice to meet you, too." He raised his hand to wards Hinata. "This is number 2."

Hinata caught on, "Hello, I'm Hyuuga Hinata, Nice to meet you Fu."

"A silver haired fox kid, and a Hyuuga. Nice to know there is variety." she said sarcastically.

"Ah, if green were only better." Naruto said back, just as sarcastically. "Have you met others?"

"Yes, number 8 and 1. Beware, 1 is bloodthirsty."

"Thanks," Naruto pointed to Kina, "Meet 9 herself, Kina." The fox jumped off Naruto's shoulders.

"Is it okay to let her out?" Fu asked.

"Yea, she's sweet, if a bit cold at times." Naruto answered.

"So, is that number 2?" she pointed to the kitten, whom Hinata just summoned.

"Yes. This is Hiraku." Hinata answered.

"Hey dobe." Sasuke said as he walked up, Sakura close behind. "I don't want to know what you're up to, and I probably am glad that I don't, but could we please get going?"

"YEA, WHAT HE SAID!" ...

"Alright, alright, teme." Naruto pointed at Sasuke with his thumb. "Stick-up-ass-avenger."

"Ouch, your teammate?"

"Nope, and I'm glad for it. I would shiver if that reality actually existed. Oh well, I gotta go. Maybe we can meet on friendly terms again someday."

"That would be nice." Fu said. "Goodbye."

They departed.

–

The konoha gates

The entire group, minus Anko who was teleported in by Nelrim, met up with the guards.

"Ah, teams 7 and 8. Right on schedule as always." he said sarcastically.

"Yea, yea." Kakashi said, not looking up form his book.

"Okay, and who's the extra?"

"Hyosenra Haku. She needs to see the Hokage about something." Hinata spoke up.

The two guards looked at each other, and nodded. One left off rushing to the hokage.

"I'm going to have to ask Haku-san here to relieve herself of all weapons and gear. Standard procedure for all incoming guest Shinobi." The guard with a bandage on his face said.

"I understand." she took off her belt, that was just under her kimono. The senbon holders around her ankles, and wrists. She took out the two senbon in her hair.

The guard took all of them. "Is that all?"

Haku sighed. She took of her necklace which had another two senbon imbedded in the string. She took off the bracer around her thigh, which was embarrassing to get, and one last senbon up each sleave.

"Come on, I know you're holding out." The guard said.

Haku got teary eyed. She pulled out another necklace, which this one had a smaller then usual senbon. "My precious, first senbon." she rubbed it affectionately.

"Don't worry. You'll get it back when you're cleared. I promise." The guard said.

"Take care of it. It's my favorite." she said.

Naruto chuckled. "You need to meet Tenten."

"We'll do that after I see the hokage. I want my precious back." Haku said.

"Okay, move it along you two." Kakashi said.

–

Hokage's office

The hokage was just notified that team 7 and 8 were back from the mission plus one. The guard notified that the plus one was a kunoichi, and as thus dangerous.

_'Can't possibly be more dangerous then Anko or Tsunade.'_ he thought.

The group walked into the office, and Kakashi stepped forward.

"Teams 7 and 8 have completed C rank turned A rank mission. We will receive payment from Wave once they are back on their feet." Kakashi said in report mode.

"Okay, give me your verbal report." The hokage said.

Kakashi and Kurenai took turns explaining what happened, leaving out a few parts of course.

"So this is Hyosenra Haku, surrogate daughter of Momochi Zabuza, and the last wielder of the ice bloodline. Correct?" The hokage said.

"Correct, Hokage-sama." Haku said.

"Well, don't just stand there, tell me about yourself."

..."How?"

"Well, your likes... dislikes... you can be vague or direct, just as long as I have something for your profile." Sarutobi said.

"Well, My name is Hyosenra Haku. I like dangos," the hokage sat up straighter, "learning new ways to use my ice techniques, Sharp pointy things, my precious people, and of course my ice ability to make sharp pointy things. My dislikes are perverts, dull people, and people who just don't understand the true meaning to be strong." Haku stopped. "Anything else?"

"Uh.. um... dreams, and goals."

"Hmm, my dream is to make my friends happy, and to make a clan just for sharp pointy things. My goals is to make lots of friends, and make my surrogate father proud of me."

Everyone stared at Haku.

The collective thought was, _'Oh god, not another one.'_

The hokage coughed to bring the attention back to himself, the attention hogger, and said, "Hyosenra Haku. You will go through the Precautions and Execution of Trouble act. Basically, you will be allowed in as a citizen, and after a year you will be allowed to join the ranks of ninjas. You will go through a weekly examination by Mitarashi Anko or Morino Ibiki, to see if you're telling the truth in wanting to join our ranks. If you make it past that first year, and no slip ups, then you will be a true shinobi in Konohagakure."

"I feel as if you're leaving something out." Haku said.

"Ah, yes. How could I forget. You will have a 24/7watch on you by ANBU, until you make it too 2 years inside, and no trouble."

"I understand... now can I please have my precious back?" Haku asked.

The hokage stopped to think for a moment. "Precious? I thought your friends were precious to you."

"Oh, they are. But 'My Precious' is the name of my first senbon."

Naruto deadpanned. _'Just like Tenten.'_

"Oh, sure." The hokage waved his hand over a seal. "Here you go." the seal popped, and the earlier senbon on a necklace popped into existence.

Haku grabbed it, and held it close. "My precious."

"Have fun making that cult, err I mean clan." The hokage said. "You're all dismissed, but Hinata, Naruto and Kurenai."

The rest of the group left, and the three looked at the Hokage. "You needed us, Hokage-sama?" Kurenai asked.

"Yes, I'm sure you were leaving something out. Now, what would you like to tell me?" he asked.

"Well, um... how to put this. Hinata, can you please summon her? And Kina, can you come out here?"

Hinata summoned the kitten, and Kina jumped out from Naruto's pack. As soon as the Hokage saw them, he performed a seal, and the room glowed blue for a second.

"You needed us, Kurenai-san?" Kina asked.

"Yes, The Hokage would have eventually found out, anyways." Kurenai said. She then told the Hokage about how Hinata went off, how Naruto had somehow awakened a bloodline, and the weird meeting between Naruto, Hinata, and Fu.

The hokage chuckled. "So, that's what happened. I'll cover up how it really went to keep you four safe. By the way, you mentioned a cat?"

"He's an enigma." Kurenai said.

"An evil enigma." Naruto added.

"Uh, right. Name?" Sarutobi asked.

"Gin Nelrim." Naruto said.

The hokage stood up suddenly. He dropped his pipe, forgetting it on the floor. Several things were pushed off the desk, as he put his hands on the table. "Nelrim. As in Merlin spelt backwards?" The hokage asked.

Naruto thought about it for a second, "Yea, I guess. Why do you ask?" Merlin didn't mean anything to Naruto, Kurenai or Hinata.

"Tell me, how did he get in?" The Hokage asked.

"He said something about 'A favor for Kami' but that's about it." Naruto answered.

The hokage sat down weakly. "Boy, you are in one hell for a ride. And you were right about evil enigma thing." The hokage took a pause to pick up his pipe. "Alright, seeing as how Nelrim is in the elemental countries, I'll have some paperwork to do. That also answers why I can't see you sometimes with my all seeing eye glass." The hokage said. "Dismissed."

"Hai!" and the group left the room.

–

Naruto and Hinata walked out the Hokage's tower. Kurenai said she had something to do.

"So, Hinata. Wanna try a date?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. But I can't. I have to be back at the clan compounds. Maybe later though." she said with a smile.

"Okay, Hinata-chan." Naruto took three steps away from the tower,when Nelrim popped up on the opposite shoulder of Kina.

"Meet me at the usual training ground tomorrow, usual time. You have today off." And disappeared.

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders. "So, ichiruka's?" he asked Kina.

"_I need some meat."_Kina thought to him.

"Okay."

–

Ten bowls later, and 2 destroyed and eaten steaks, the two left off, and went home to sleep. Even if it was only late afternoon. Naruto felt a little tired from the entire week, and was looking to sleep in a nice cozy bed.

–

The next day

Naruto got up, and when he put his foot down, he noticed several wires laced all over the floor. Now normally, Naruto not being a morning person, would have fallen for such a trap. He smiled. Ever since that change it had been easier to go longer periods without sleep, and even wake up each morning not feeling groggy.

Naruto nimbly stepped over all the traps, and made it to the bathroom. He took a quick shower, and got ready for the day. He nimbly stepped over a few dozen more trap wires, and made it to the kitchen.

"You'll have to be better then that, Kina-chan." Naruto said. _'hehe, I outsmarted her.'_

Naruto took a box of cereal out, and a bowl. He placed them on the table, and went to the fridge, avoiding yet more traps. Naruto just smirked. _'Too easy.'_ He opened the fridge, and yogurt was sprayed all over his face, blinding him. He took a step back and set off a few of the wires. A tub of tar was poured onto him. Then two bombs went off to cover him in feathers.

"Ah, the simple tar and feather trap. Good try, gaki. But not good enough." Kina said, hanging form the ceiling above Naruto.

"Why can't I wake up like a normal kid? Is it that hard to ask for?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, it takes a great deal of strain for me to simplify these traps to this point. Learn to live with a fox, Na-ru-to-kun" and she disappeared.

"I hate you when you do that." Naruto said. So he went back, took ANOTHER shower. Naruto had to get on his second outfit, as his favorite grey was ruined. He picked out a simple black shirt with with light blue pants. Over the shirt he put on a light blue shinobi jacket.

He went back to the fridge, and opened it slowly this time. He grabbed the milk, and went to eat breakfast.

After he had eaten, Naruto grabbed his ninja gear which included two scrolls, his Kunai pouch, and a shuriken pouch belted to his back.

"Okay, I'm off." he said to no one in the house.

–

At the training ground 13

Nelrim and Kina were talking about general things. Kina, over time has gotten used to the cat's presence, albeit grudgingly.

Naruto showed up.

"Okay, Nelrim. You said I would be learning new things when we got back from the mission. I've been training long and hard for this sooo. Gimme." He said in a childish attitude.

Nelrim chuckled. "Okay, but first check the scroll that Yami gave you."

Naruto nodded, and opened it up. He moved passed the gravity seals, and training for speed.

"Ah, here's some new things, five actually." Naruto said. "One, learn the **F****ūt****on: Daitoppa**_**(Wind style: Great breakthrough)**_**, and Suiton: Shouheki Zettai Kounitsu no jutsu**_**(Water: Barrier of Absolute Density Jutsu)**_ from scroll. Two, learn Mizu Kanryuu from Nelrim. Three, Learn seventh sense made by The Third Fang from Nelrim. Four, learn the Rasengan from the super pervert." Naruto paused. "Who's the super pervert?"

Both Kina and Nelrim shrugged.

"Five, learn the kuchiyose no jutsu_(summoning jutsu)_ from Kina and sign the fox contract, then learn about sage mode."

"Ohhhh, I wanted to wait till you were older before I taught you that. But if they insist, I'll teach ya, Naruto-kun." Kina said.

"Okay, I'll leave learning the wind and water techniques up to you in your spare time, Naruto. I'm going to teach you the beginning steps for the seventh sense first." Nelrim paused. "First, let me see if you completed the leaf balancing technique."

Naruto nodded. He gathered several leaves, and went to balance them. "I figured it out while we were finishing the bridge." He had leaves on all his tenketsu points, and began to move them all. Not dropping one leaf.

"Very good, Naruto. Move them faster." Naruto complied. The leaves were moving rapidly across his body. "Perfect. Now, what was the lesson in this exercise?"

"To be able to manipulate all the tenketsu so that you can control how much chakra leaves each point. Too much or too little at any given point and the leaves start falling off. When done properly the chakra flow will act like a magnet moving the leaves, pushing and pulling from one tenketsu to another."

"Correct. That technique will serve for the two techniques you're going to learn." Nelrim said. "First one is called the seventh sense. This one is the simpler of the two in description, but it's not easier. You will be releasing a constant stream of chakra to leave your body from all your tenketsu. You will be, essentially, creating a cloud of chakra around you. With it, you will be able to sense the air around you through it. Similar to how water users can see using chakra infused water, but much harder. You will be unconsciously leaking chakra at all times for this to work. It gets a lot more advanced as you learn this technique. But for starters, we'll start it nice and easy. Create three 100 percent clones."

Naruto nodded, and formed five handsigns, the last being the familiar cross. "Kage bushin no jutsu."

Three clones popped into existence.

"Alright, you three. With me." Nelrim hopped into the brush with the clones soon after him.

"Alright, Naruto-kun." Kina said, as a beautifully designed scroll popped in next to her. "Sign this contract with the blood from the hand of your choice, then make a hand print below it using the blood again."

"A blood signature sealing?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, you have been learning about seals, correct?" Kina said.

"Yea, but not enough to match jounins yet. I just can't grasp it." Naruto rolled out the scroll, and bit his thumb.

"Have you tried learning after the change?" Kina said, as Naruto put down his name.

"No, Why is there only one other name in here? And who's this Namikaze Henryuuko."

"Well, try now. You might be surprised. And to answer your question, he was the founder of the Namikaze family. I think that was 200 years ago. I only let him sign it, due to the fact he showed cunning with his techniques. Now hurry up and finish."

He made the hand print. There was a burning sensation in his right hand's thumb, the one he bit. It closed up, but left a fox face where the wound was. "Wow, I never knew that would happen."

"It's the ultimate blood signature, Naruto. Most contracts don't make them on the user. Allowing them to sign multiple contracts, but if you have an ultimate signature, you can't sign more then one more, and that's using your left hand. This seal require less chakra to use then the kuchiyose normally needs, and you wouldn't need to perform hand signs either. Just offer some blood, and throw down your hand. Go ahead and try."

Naruto did just that. He didn't even call out the name. Cloudlessly, a fox fazed into existence. The fox had 6 tails, silver fur, and was about the size of a big cat, like a lion. The fox opened it's eyes blue eyes, and looked directly at Naruto. The fox then looked at Kina, who was on his shoulder.

The new fox spoke up with a male voice. "Kina-sama." he said, "Am I to assume that this is the next summoner?"

"Yes, and you will be his master summon. He will have me mostly, but when he needs you, answer to him."

"Understood, Kina-sama." The fox looked back at the fox boy in the eyes. "Hello, Nidaime Kitsune Kuchiyose. My name is Kinyou."

"Kinyou. Nice name. Mine is Uzumaki Naruto. Glad to meet you." Naruto answered the fox.

"I'm humbled to be picked as your main summon, Naruto-sama."

"Main summon?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, each summoning clan has several members in it with a boss summon as the head. In this case, Kina-sama. Each member has a soul mate that will be able to summon them more easily then others. Hence, you summoned me on your first try, I am your main summon. If you ever need us, just give us a call. I expect that you can explain the rest, Kina-sama?"

"Yes, I can. Just tell the kitsune clan that I have been sealed, and that the next head should be Kinbu. I'll be there in a bit, after I explain somethings to Naruto."

"Hai, Kina-sama. We were wondering where you were." he said, then fazed out of existence.

"Kina-chan."

"Yes, Naruto?"

"How come he didn't poof, just fazed."

"As I said before you have an ultimate signature, and it will only take what it needs to summon. The poof that usually happens with most sealing, and movements, is that extra chakra was used, causing the louder bang."

"Sooo, I'll know if I'm using The shadow clones correctly if they just faze into existence, and not poof?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, Naruto." Kina said. "Oh, and before I lose track, just know that if you have a summoning type in particular, you just call out the type or the name of who during the summoning."

"Alright... I've been wasting chakra this whole time?" he asked no one.

"Yes," Kina answered anyways, "You have been wasting lots."

Naruto grumble as he performed a kage bunshin, and it puffed into existence. "Wasting chakra. Must do less."

"Um, you can work on that later, I have to teach you sage mode now, in order to solidify the contract."

"Okay, what's sage mode?"

"You know how you mix body energy, and spiritual energy to make chakra, right?" Kina asked.

"Yea, it's the basics we all learn."

"Sage mode is adding a third energy to the mix. Natural energy. Each and every contract mixes the nature's energy type and amount in different ways."

"So, all summoning contracts have a sage mode?"

"Yes," Kina answered, "Every one that has a boss summon."

"Okay, how do I mix this natural energy into my chakra?" Naruto asked.

"Well, that's the tough part."

"And how's that?"

"We need to go to the Kitsune clan grounds. There, we will move to the volcanic storm area just 30 miles from the clan grounds."

"How long will it take us to get there?"

"Well, we would never be able to get there, because the Kitsune clan grounds exist on a different world altogether."

"Sooo, I'm screwed, right?" Naruto asked.

"Not necessarily. I need you to make a summoning circle here in the grass. I'll be right back after tell-"

"I already know." Nelrim said. "Make another clone, this time with a mental link."

Naruto nodded, and did the five signs. A clone poofed into existence. Naruto loved this new addition to the clone technique. Apparently, if you create a clone, and constantly make a link from your head to the clone, it will be able to send back memories continuously. Heck, he had an extra pair of eyes this way. The problem was, is that it continuously drains chakra out of the user. An upside is that it will last forever, as long as the user keeps up the chakra drain. Luckily for Naruto, he can make more chakra then one needs. However, it will take him longer to regain chakra.

"This needs time getting used to, having 2 pairs of eyes and all." Naruto said. Another thing is that it only sends memories to the original, not other clones, but Naruto can send mental commands to the clone if needed.

"Kina, go ahead and do the reverse summon, I'll have the summoning circle here in 4 weeks time. That should be more then enough on your world." Nelrim said.

Kina nodded. A seal appeared around Naruto and Kina, and branched off. A loud bang was heard, and the area was burnt from the fiery bang.

"Now, off to torture 3 clones." Nelrim smiled, and went back to the other training ground. The Naruto left there, went to meet team 8 for normal duties.

–

To be continued...

Holy s*** that was long. This must be, easily, the longest chapter I have EVER written. With an end note of over thirteen thousand words, this one is a dozy. Well, anyways. Signing off.

**Need: final read.**

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Hello all, Snipa here. Day 2 of my ski trip, and I'm too tired to ski, but to tense to relax. I thought that writing this second chapter would help me out.

Now, on to the story.

–

Chapter 10

The land was clean, as if no human has ever lived here. The fir trees were covered in snow. The land looked pure, the snow had a bluish tint to it. Deep in this forest, a mountain stood tall. The mountain had a snowy peak. If you were to look past this mountain you would see a cut off of the forest surrounded by dead trees. This darker mountain had black clouds over it, and fire spewed out of the top of it, signifying that this was a volcano.

At the base of the snowy mountain, a fiery bang was heard. When the smoke cleared, our hero, Naruto the silver fox boy, stood in the center, with Kina, the Kyuubi no kitsune on his right shoulder. Naruto wore a dark blue outfit made of ANBU pants and a jacket. Under his unzipped jacket was a white T-shirt.

Kina's colors changed. Instead of the redish orangish coat with black tips, she was snow white, with grey tips.

Naruto looked around, the forest seemed off. The trees weren't green. They were red. Like autumn leaf red, but on fir. He noticed the snow on the ground. How could he not, he was up to his thighs in snow. That's when he noticed the different clothes, and the color change in Kina.

"Why... am I wearing something different? And why are your fur colors different?" Naruto asked.

"That's what happens when you skip dimensions." Kina said. "Right now, we're in a different one, specifically my dimension."

"How... wha..." Naruto couldn't think of what to ask first.

"I'll answer your questions later, but first change into your fox form." Kina said.

Naruto complied. When the smoke cleared his fur was black, with silver tips on his two tails and ears. "Whoa, did NOT expect that. I have two tails!" Naruto stopped for a second. "I can talk in fox form? And why am I all black?"

"As I said, I'll answer later. Just for now, follow me." Kina said. Naruto nodded, and followed the now White fox into the brush.

Naruto always loved the fox form, but now it seemed even better. He could see things he normally couldn't. His nose picked up scents of other foxes in the area.

Just ahead, two foxes stood in their way.

"Kina?" said one of the foxes.

"I can't explain much, but I have a new contractor here. I need to see Kinbu as well."

The two foxes nodded, and Kina leaped over the two 5 tailed foxes with ease. Naruto followed over calculating the jump though, and almost hit a branch. He ducked just in time, and kept following Kina.

"When we reach our destination, shut up, and follow me. This is a no deal business. We will be surrounded by foxes that could easily kill you." Kina said.

About 3 minutes later, the two came to a cave at the base of the snowy mountain. A lot of foxes were standing by, all different kinds of colors, from jet black to snow white, to even purple and pink. The foxes had anywhere from 1 tail to 7 tails. The two foxes then entered the cave. Sitting inside was about 30 more foxes all the same as earlier. The only different ones were the 3 foxes sitting at the back of the cave over a fire. The fire wasn't normal though. The fire burned with a greenish bluish tint. And what was even more surprising there wasn't even wood. Hell there wasn't anything under the fire.

The three 8 tailed foxes saw them come in, and watched them come up to the fire. The size of these foxes were enormous. They were almost 2 stories tall.

"Kina, Former 9 tailed head of the Kitsune clan." said the middle one. She had a black coat with orange tips. A grey scar was going down the left eye of this fox.

"Council of the 8 tailed foxes." Kina bowed. "I've come here to train a new summoner, and if you haven't heard it from Kinyou, I have been sealed into a human."

"We had heard, and we were just talking about that. But, how are you outside, and who is this pup?" The fox on the right asked. He had a purple coat with brown tips.

"Well, Kami and Yami saw that I was sealed against my will, and the cause of that seal against my will as well." Kina said.

"What do you mean?" Said the one on the left. She had a green coat with pink tips.

"Our enemy of the Uchiha clan, Madara, tried to place me under a genjutsu. It failed, but I was left in a state of mind that made me go beyond control."

Several people gasped when she said Madara.

"Okay, and who is this pup?" The middle asked.

"This is my container, Uzumaki Naruto. Though he was born from two shinobi humans, the seal placed on him allowed my chakra to leak out and change him." Kina looked to him, "Go ahead and show your true form."

Naruto nodded and poofed.

"He's a hanyou?" asked the purple fox. "I haven't seen one of those in a while." she said it with some disgust.

"I know. Do not look down upon him. He's half human, and half demon fox, yes, but as I said earlier, two humans conceived him." Kina said.

"Alright, and I assume you wish to train him at the Storm Volcano?" Said the black fox.

"If it is alright with the council." Kina said.

"Okay, but there is one more thing. Even though you had told Kinyou to tell me, but we have to hear it from you, Kina. Who is the next head?" The black one in the middle asked.

"I, former head of the kitsune clan, Kina, hereby name you, Kinbu the next head of the clan." Kina said formally.

"Then it is done. I'll have to train at the volcano then to get my final tail." Kinbu the black fox said. "We're going to miss you Kina."

"If it makes you all feel better, even though I lead it, you all did your jobs well. I'm sure the clan wont miss me that much. Who are you going to ask to become 8 tailed?" Kina asked.

"Well, We were thinking of Kinya. She's got a level head, but will need some ironing out." The brown fox said.

"Alright then, I leave this clan up to you four then. If you need my help, just come to the Shinobi's world. May you run with the fire and race the lightning." Kina said. She turned to Naruto, "Alright, Naruto, transform back to fox form, and let's go."

Naruto nodded, still heading the 'shut up' order from earlier.

The two ran out of the camp, and went towards the black sky in the distance. Beside them, Kinbu was running as well. "I thought I might as well earn my ninth tail soon. Don't want a headless clan for too long."

"I knew I picked the right fox." Kina said.

"Can I talk now?" Naruto asked.

"Sure, gaki."

"Great, I hate shutting up." Naruto said.

"You have one interesting container, Kina. Black with grey tips. Two tails. How old are you?"

"Um... 13, turning 14 in a couple of months."

The older black fox just starred at the little black one. Then smiled. "Yes, one very interesting container."

"So, do the colors of fur mean anything?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, very much so. Black fur means a firm standing in life, and too stubborn to change much, and the grey tips can mean several things, most of the time it's an unsure future."

"What do orange tips mean?" Naruto asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Well, you have to understand. The fur color represents your standing on life at that moment. The tips represent the future. My orange tips mean that I will take a hold of a great responsibility. I guess becoming the head meant that." Kinbu said with a shrug.

Naruto looked over to Kina. "White fur?"

"It means innocence." Kina said shortly, looking quickly at Kinbu.

Kinbu nodded, getting the hint.

"Look up, Gaki." Kina said.

Naruto looked up. He hadn't realized it, but they were at the foot of the volcanic mountain. Lightning streaked the sky in the dark clouds.

"Well, this is where we split off, if you ever need backup, don't hesitate to call." With that Kinbu jumped up the mountain nimbly towards the top. After a few second she disappeared into the dark clouds.

"How long will she stay up there?" Naruto asked.

"As long as she needs to gain her tail. Each tail trial is a test, and no two foxes have the exact same test." Kina said.

"Will I have to take these tests?" Naruto asked.

"No. You'll gain power like I the first 9 tailed did. Each tail will be given to you when you receive enough power." Kina said.

"Okay, so what do I do to train for sage mode then?" Naruto asked.

"First, I need you in Hanyou form." Kina said.

Naruto poofed, and when the smoke cleared, a two tailed Naruto stood. "Okay, one tail wasn't bad, but two?"

Kina chuckled, "Don't worry about it. I'll show you how to limit it."

"Okay, but, um, can you answer my earlier questions. About why my fur changed, your fur changed, and my clothes changed?"

"Well, to put it simply, we aren't in your dimension anymore, Naruto. Here Yokou is the dominate force, and Chakra is the rarity. Since you're a Hanyou, you can easily access both energies. Hence the grey tips on your ears, because we can't get an accurate reading on you. There is more to fur reading then anyone knows. Only I know, and soon Kinbu will, too."

"So, how does being in a different dimension change my clothes?" Naruto asked.

"Well, when you switch dimensions, you switch probabilities. The probability for you getting the set you have now was higher in this dimension then the light blue one in the other. It's kind of confusing, but over time you learn to accept it." Kina said.

"Okay, but," Naruto started, "how do you travel across dimensions?"

"That, is for something only 9 tailed foxes should know. I can't tell you. Sorry." Kina looked sheepish. "Anyways, I need you to get naked."

Naruto blushed madly, "Why should I?"

"So you can learn how to channel natural energy more. 'Sides, wont be the first time I've seen you naked. Just do it."

Naruto complied, blushing the entire time. "There, now what?"

"Grab your clothes, and make a seat out of them on top of this rock." Kina said.

Naruto nodded, and made a nice comfy seat on top of the nice pointy and sharp volcanic rock.

"Now, here comes the hard part. Breathe." Kina said.

"Wha...what do you mean?"

"Meditate, close your eyes, and focus on the air around you. Breath in deeply, and feel it enter you body. Mix the energy into your chakra slowly." Kina said.

Naruto took in a deep breath, and close his eyes.

"That's it, feel your surroundings. Let your spirit fly, and your body mingle with the earth."

Naruto took in 5 more breaths, he could feel the energy, but it was just beyond his grasp.

"I'll come back in an hour to see how you're doing. And no clones. This has to be learned by the original." Kina said, and she hopped up the mountain, to disappear into the clouds.

An hour later, Kina returned from the mountain top looking refreshed, and relaxed, if a little tired. She saw Naruto sitting perfectly still. Breathing slowly.

Kina smiled, _'He's got the right idea. I guess I overestimated the time frame. He should be able to do it in 2 weeks.'_

Kina slowly, and quietly walked up next to Naruto, and laid down beside him. _'At least I can rest easier here. Home is always where you have the most fond memories.'_ Kina drifted off to sleep.

–

Meanwhile, back in Konoha.

The 3 Naruto clones were frustrated. No they were more then that. They were almost pissed. They had to create a literal friggin' cloud of chakra surrounding them by 5 feet. In that cloud, they had to support leaves in random places and keep them up. It wasn't the exercise that pissed them off. Nope.

It was Nelrim, who kept blowing the leaves out of there chakra zones, and then telling them to reach out and grab another with chakra only.

Nelrim had them do this everyday. Not even letting them pop. Making them sleep, and meditate to gather chakra for themselves at night. This kept up until They could hold 30 leaves inside the zone indefinitely. Then Nelrim asked them to expand the fields to 10 feet. After that 20 feet. The three weeks took a toll on the clones. They had just been asked to bump up to 25 feet of chakra around them, and that was pushing the limits on their reserves. Clones can only hold so much. Not only that, but Nelrim doubled the amount from 30 to 60, and he pushed even more leaves out even faster. It was driving them nuts, but one of the clones realized something. They didn't have to look to feel the leaves leave the chakra zones. In fact, they had their eyes closed. Out of the three, he was doing the best. Able to hold a constant 60 more easily then the other two.

At the beginning of the fourth week, Nelrim had asked them to stop, and start forming the summoning circle that the real one would need. The three complied, and started forming the circle.

The final clone with the mental link ability, was also there. He was to help tell them when the original was ready.

On the third day of the fourth week, the clone received a mental note from the original, and nodded to the other three. They nodded, put blood on the symbol, and pushed chakra into the circle.

A big burn sounded out, and in the middle of the field stood our Naruto.

This Naruto differed a lot more. He now had two tails behind him, and he wore black ANBU pants and jacket with a navy blue underneath. However, instead of his normal grey overcoat, another was in place. He had a long black trench coat with a hood over his head. At the bottom of the coat, it was designed with grey flames. On the back of the coat was the kanji symbol for Sage. His two tails peeked out at the bottom of the coat. They were now silver with a white tip again. On his face was a black chakra reinforced mask that covered the bottom half of his face. He had black fingerless gloves on as well. All in all, he turned into a black figure. (A/N:What? I like black... a lot... no he wont turn into a goth.. that would be just creepy.)

Naruto took off the hood, and looked around. "You three look like hell. Don't tell me, constant training?" They nodded. "Shit, that's going to be a nice headache."

"Indeed, but how did your sage training go, Naruto?" Nelrim asked.

"Alright." Naruto smirked, "I seemed to have mastered the basic katas for it as well. Kina here also had me learn a few jutsu that will only work in sage mode."

"Good. I assume the coat is to hide what you look like in sage mode, then?" Nelrim asked.

"Yes, but also to signify that I've mastered sage mode. Not many people will know this anyways, so I might as well wear what I have earned."

"Indeed. I also sense that your mind is not so easily read, either."

Naruto looked at Nelrim in surprise.

"What, learning how to blend with nature will do that. You have started to create your own mind paths, of which I cannot read. Don't get cocky though. A fully trained Yamanaka will tear your mind apart. I would have to relearn how you think, before I could read your mind again."

Naruto thought over what Nelrim said, _'Make random mind paths, and mind readers can't read?'_ Naruto thought some more. _'Heck, why not. I need some variety anyways.'_

"Now," Naruto started, "Who should I burst first?" Naruto looked at the four clones. He looked to the one with the mind link. "You first." It nodded, and burst. Naruto got a slight nagging, but the clone was sending the data anyways. The clone learned how to do the two new jutsus he got from the scroll, but not perfectly. He was having trouble keeping the water one up, but considering it's classified as an A rank elemental jutsu, he would just have to work a bit more on it.

"I'll pop them in order now." Nelrim said. He walked over to the one that did the worst first. "Pop" it burst, "goes the weasel."

Naruto almost collapsed onto the ground from the headache as the memories streamed into him. "God, he made my clones do a lot."

"It's okay," Kina said, "Just meditate like you did for training."

Naruto nodded, and sat in the cent of the blast zone. After 10 minutes, he nodded to Nelrim, who popped the clone that was in second.

The headache wasn't so bad that time, since most of the memories were the same, only that this time, he figured out what the first did wrong.

He nodded once more to the last clone, who popped himself. The headache this time wasn't as bad as the first, but still worse then the second. He knew how to make a perfect 20 foot zone, and how the chakra laced air made it easier to detect something. He also had an idea for creating a bigger zone with less chakra, but it would be a long time before he could precisely sense something inside that enlarged zone.

"Good. You seem to be able to absorb more then you usually did. That first pop would've knocked you out cold." Nelrim said.

Kina walked back over to the meditating Naruto. "I forgot to tell you back there, Naruto, but don't use sage mode here until you retrain it. Yes you mastered it in my dimension, but here, the air is a lot different."

Naruto nodded, understanding somewhat.

"Okay, Naruto. I'll meet you back here for early training tomorrow, and then you'll go off to see Kurenai." Nelrim said, "While it would be good to have you here, and place a clone in the team instead, you would lose trust if they found out you weren't with them."

"Alright. God I hate D ranked missions though. By the way, what day is it today? I lost track." Naruto asked.

"It's December first. The Chuunin exams in Kumogakure just ended yesterday." Nelrim said.

"Okay, now I know my clones weren't wrong. Only four weeks passed by here?" Naruto asked. "I was gone for 7 weeks!"

Nelrim looked over at Kina. "I'm not the only one forgetting to mention things. Time passes differently in between dimensions." Naruto looked to Kina.

Kina sighed. "He's right. For everyday that passes by here, a day and a half passes by in my dimension."

Naruto just sighed, and pushed it into the box called 'ask later' in his mind. The box was getting big. "Alright." was all Naruto said, "I'm gonna catch some food at Ichiruka's place, and then head home. I miss my bed."

Nelrim nodded and disappeared.

–

The next day

Naruto got up earlier then usual. He wanted to beat the fox out of the room. Kina was sleeping soundly, but Naruto still wasn't sure or not. If it turned out there were no traps, he would place his own, and then run for it.

Naruto performed his morning wake up schedule, and ate breakfast in silence.

About 10 minutes later, Naruto left the place, and quickly ran to the thirteenth training ground. He sat in the center, and tried to focus the natural energy into his body. He learned that you don't wait for it, or grab for it. You will the natural energy into your body. Naruto could feel it just fine, the problem was, is that the energy isn't as dense here as it was in the other dimension. He would have to learn how to remix the energies together, or he would turn into flames.

That's another thing Naruto hated about the sage training. If he got it wrong, he would've been turned into a nice roasted hanyou. About a week in, Kina started hitting him, so that he wouldn't burn up. He still had bruises on his head from that encounter.

He slowly started mixing the chakra into himself. He had to make sure it was just right. His right hand burst into flames, and he quickly put it out. _'Damn, too little.'_ He went back, and focused more.

"As much as I want to watch you sit all day, boy, but we have training to work on." Nelrim's voice called out.

Naruto opened his eyes, and let the energy leave him. He felt colder without it. "So, what do you want me to do now?" he asked.

"Well, today, we're going to try fuinjutsu again, as well as continue where we left off for your seventh sense training." Nelrim said.

A sudden feeling of killer intent filled the air. Kina wandered into the clearing. She had silly putty all over her fur, and her face was covered in pie. Naruto was laughing. Nelrim just stared in disbelief.

"A fox got outsmarted?" was all Nelrim could say.

"I hate you right now, Naruto-kun." Kina said.

"I know, but that was payback for all the times you got me." Naruto smiled.

"Of course, you know, that you have officially started a prank war." Kina said. Naruto gulped.

"As much as I would like to see that, try to make sure he doesn't get hurt." Nelrim said.

"I know," Kina said, "I wont hurt him in any way. That's the true meaning of a prank war. To prank the crap out of someone, and then wait for the rival to fight back. The one rule between contestants is that no one is ever harmed. The target doesn't always have to be the rival either. You could do a major city wide prank, and wait for your rival to one up you. I don't think a winner is ever declared, it's always called into a draw, but mark my words Naruto, I will win this one." Kina said.

Naruto could only nod. Outside he was shivering, inside his mind he was creating more devious pranks.

"Please warn me whenever you two start the battle, I have a feeling I don't want to be around." Nelrim said.

"Tomorrow morning." Kina said, and then looked to Naruto. "Create a bunch of low level clones for me, I'm going to have them work on point balancing, chakra hops, and your jutsus." Naruto nodded, and created 400 clones. They all fazed into existence, and Naruto smiled.

"Perfect amount." was all he said, proud of himself.

"Great, means you have extra chakra to make five 100 percent clones." Nelrim said.

Five clones also fazed into existence. Naruto was beaming. "I learned that in my spare time."

"Good, now create 100 more clones all low level. They will be reading, so you don't have to use too much." Nelrim said.

Naruto complied, and more clones showed up, and went to gather reading materials.

"You five, follow me." Nelrim said, and vanished into the brush.

"What about me?" Naruto asked.

"Well, Anko should be around here somewhere. I told her you would be ready for training again. She will bring a few friends along as well." Nelrim's voice echoed out.

Naruto gulped. When he said 'friends' he put an extra meaning to it. Naruto tensed and looked around.

_'Okay think Naruto. Anko always likes ambushes. How to stop them? Knwoing where they are. How do I do that, she's a special jounin... My seventh sense? Maybe. If I could hold it long enough.'_ He started to push chakra out of his body, and slowly created the field around him. _'I gotta make this automatic.'_

Two minutes later, his 20 foot field was up, and the chakra was dispersing into a larger cloud of less concentrated chakra. This was the idea he had earlier, and he knew he wouldn't have much else.

He felt three pings enter his field, and he moved. Sure enough, three kunai would have pierced him if he stood still.

"Drat." said a girl.

"Who's there?" he called out.

Anko's voice rang out. "It's time for your morning training, Nii-kun."

More pings, and Naruto moved once more. He slid to a stop. He looked around.

"Awh, how am I going to get you if you keep moving?" the girl's voice rang out. It sounded so familiar to Naruto, but he couldn't quite place it.

He moved several more times, as a line of kunai and shuriken nailed where he was a second ago. Naruto kept up the chakra leak. He was thankful for it. He would've been pierced meat by now. His field of chakra was getting bigger, and soon it was at 25 feet perfect control, and an extra 50 feet beyond that with less chakra concentration. He could feel the presence of two people, but he couldn't pinpoint their location.

He kept up the dodging as more rained down on him from all directions. He wasn't given a single second to breath. The field was now littered with pointy weapons.

_'Wait, pointy weapons. Anko said she would meet someone to my clone. High class aiming skills. A girl.'_ Naruto was not freaking out, as he dodged even faster. _'Only one girl by that description. Tenten.'_

As if a response to his assumption, thousands of kunai were thrown at him. Naruto had to think quickly, and brought out a single kunai. _'Where the hell do they get all these weapons?'_ He dodged as many as he could, and deflected some with his kunai when he couldn't. One made it through his defense, and scraped his pants, inflicting a small wound on his legs.

"GOT HIM!" Tenten cried out.

"I thought this was training, not killing me, Onee-chan, Tenten-san." He called out.

"I guess he figured it out." Tenten said, and she came into the clearing, holding two swords.

"I guess we'll have to reward him then." Anko said, as she came down as well. She was holding several kunai and shuriken.

Naruto chuckled nervously. He suddenly looked in a random direction. "Look, A shiny, pointy something."

The two looked, and saw nothing. "Hey, there isn-" Tenten said as she turned back. When she couldn't see Naruto, she just shrugged. "I guess that's it for the day." she put her katanas away. "And I was going to give him a nice sword for being a good dodger."

"Meh, we'll get him tomorrow."

"I noticed that he never ran out of breath." Tenten said, as they left the training field.

"Yea, he has good endurance."

"I wonder if he would join our clan?"

"Why? I thought it would be girls only."

"Yes, but I sensed something about him, that would make him an excellent member." Tenten said.

–

At training ground 8

Hinata, Shino, and Kurenai were getting worried. Naruto hasn't shown up yet, and he's never been late.

Just when Kurenai was about to go look form him, he showed up.

"God, I thought one was girl enough." he was breathing harshly. "I couldn't keep up. But then that girl had to call another over to play. They pushed me to my limits. When I called them out, they wanted to give me a present. I don't know what it was, I probably don't wanna know. I quickly distracted them, and pulled out of there."

The two girls stopped. Shino, thinking logically, already assumed it was a training battle. Unfortunately, the two females didn't have that much control over their thoughts. One of them being Anko's friend. The other... well... when you have an eye that has X-ray abilities, and a crush of a life time... well you put two and two together.

Hiraku was laughing in her seal. _"That, my kitten, is a sexual innuendo."_ She thought to her container.

Hinata quickly figured what she meant. _"Oh... and you said it was my father's secret weakness?"_

Hiraku stopped. _"You're not seriously going to do it, are you?"_

"_... I don't know..."_

"_Wrong, the correct answer was, hell yes." _Hiraku thought back. _"I guess we still need to work on your confidence. So, we'll add learning sexual innuendos, and confidence training to your current set. I'm already teaching you Ryuuken. Hell, we should add some battle scenario training as well. Can't have a good body, but no mind to match. Just simply wont work that way."_

Somewhere along Konoha's running track around it

Lee had just gotten back from the chuunin exams in Kirigakure. His team had failed it miserably, and Neji blamed it all on his teammates. Lee had just recently promised to run 200 laps on his hands around Konoha in a step to get stronger.

Currently he was on lap 198, and he sneezed. He fell onto his stomach. He got back up on his feet. "Alright, since I couldn't do the 200 laps, as promised, I will climb the hokage mountain 1000 times. If I cannot do that, I will do 3000 push up. If I cannot do that, I will..." You get the picture.

Back at training ground 8

"_Nope, simply wont work."_

Kurenai shook herself out of the dirty thoughts, and thought more logically about it. Sometimes, she cursed her friend Anko for making her think about sex half the time. "Good to see you make it Naruto-san. I like the new outfit." She walked around him. "Though it looks a bit hot to wear."

"I know, but hey, when you work hard to earn something, you want to show off in some way." Shino and Hinata just nodded.

When Kurenai saw the symbol on his back, she smiled. _'Sage, huh? I wont call him on it. He's got to have some secrets.'_ "Congratulations, Naruto. That's not something easily earned." Kurenai said.

"Thanks, but I have to re-master it. It's kind of hard when the energy where is less then where you learn it." Naruto said.

"I can understand, but that's on your own time." Kurenai said.

"Alright."

Hinata didn't know what they were talking about, but she did say, "I like it Naruto. Makes you look dangerous." She said slyly before she caught herself. _'Why am I saying these things?'_

"Thanks, Hinata-chan... why are you so red?" He looked up. "Is it because of the heat?"

Hinata couldn't talk.

Shino's first line in forever was, "Naruto-san. You seem to be making her uncomfortable again."

"Oops, Sorry about that Hinata-chan."

"N-no, it wasn't that. I just..."

Kurenai decided to save the poor girl. "That's enough of that. I want to talk to you three about something." That got the attention on all three of them. "I was asked to see if I could let you three into the next chuunin exams that will begin in 6 months."

"Where will it be located, Kurenai-sensei." Shino asked.

"Here in Konoha. It's a great chance to get you used to the exams." Kurenai said.

"Which teams from Konoha were sent to the one in Kumogakure?" Naruto asked.

"Team Gai, team Yamakuto, team 3, and team 7. Kakashi really messed up that time. Their team got wiped in the first exam. Team Gai made it to the second exam before they were wiped out. Both team's Yamakuto and team 3 made it to the finals, and three of the gennin were promoted to chuunin."

"So, only 4 teams sent?" Naruto asked. "From the ones that Anko-nee-chan talked about there are hundreds of teams each time."

"Wait, you know Anko? And you act like a brother and sister?" Kurenai asked. Several times, Anko would talk about her surrogate brother she was training, she didn't know that it was Naruto though. "Tell me, do you know what a sexual innuendo is?"

"Uh... what's a sexual innuendo?" Naruto asked. At that, Kina fell off Naruto's shoulder laughing.

"Never mind. Anyways, back on topic. I was going to tell you that the exams coming up, I was asked to let you in. But honestly, I don't know if I should let you in. The chuunin exams are very dangerous." Kurenai stopped when she saw some sad faces, particularly Kina's puppy dog eye technique. It was powerful. "Alright, I'll let you in." They cheered. "But, you have to show to me that you have earned the right to enter the exams."

"That's sounds like a fair deal." Naruto said, "What do you think Shino?"

"I agree with Naruto-san. We will show you that we are more then ready." They all looked to Hinata.

"Um. I agree with shino-san, and Naruto-kun. W-we will show you that we are ready by the time the next exams start." Hinata said.

"Okay, but I have pretty high standards. I expect all three of you to work hard, and help each other in training." Kurenai said. "But for now, D ranked missions. Maybe a C ranked one if we can handle it."

The team looked down at D rank, but looked happy at the chance for a C rank. Each for their own reasons.

–

After weeding a couple of gardens, and babysitting a few kids, the team was dismissed for the day. Naruto ran back to training ground 13 once they were let go.

"I need some time to unwind. Those kids can really make a knot out of you." Naruto said. He started some of the fox style katas. He worked through the ones he knew, making sure he doesn't forget them. Kina had burned them into his mind, yes, but it was still good to practice them. That, and they made some damn good stretches as well. Naruto felt a clone pop, giving him the warning that the remaining ones would pop soon. As always, more then half had already popped, and he absorbed the memories throughout the morning. They all popped, and Naruto got a slight headache from the remaining ones. The five special clones also popped in that mess. They were still working on 30 feet, but they were getting there. Naruto also found out that Kina was right. Sealing was coming easier to him. He could now understand elemental sealing, which was the last of the basics sealing. He would have to find a more advanced book somehow.

When he was thinking over the memories, Kina and Nelrim appeared in the training field. "Good afternoon, Naruto." Nelrim said.

"Yo."

Kina spoke up. "We are now going to train you in Mizu Kanryuu."

"We?" Naruto asked. "For as long as I can remember, you always split up to train me in your own thing. Since when do you two work together?"

Nelrim looked to Kina, "You know, he's got a point."

Kina sighed. "Yes, but we need to work together to teach him this one. Out of everything he's learned so far, this one is the most dangerous. One slip up, and he could die, or worse, lose his ability to become a shinobi altogether."

Naruto was stumped. "Harder then point balancing?" They nodded. "Harder then sage training?" Kina nodded. "Deadlier then outrunning a mob of angry and stupid villagers?" They both nodded. Naruto giggled. Then laughed a little harder. The laughed outright. "Alright, I'll do it!"

They both looked at Naruto like he was crazy.

"Hey, if it's this hard to master, then it HAS to be worth it in the end."

Nelrim laughed a good hearty laugh. "He has a point, Kina. The harder you work for something, the better the feeling is in the end."

Kina nodded, agreeing to it in her own way mentally.

Nelrim looked to Naruto, regaining his seriousness. "Alright, Naruto. I want you to be dead serious about this. As we said earlier, one wrong move, and you could end up up in the hospital for years, or end up crippled for life. This is no laughing matter. The amount of work we will have you go through will be insanely tough, and you will feel like quitting. But I will tell you this, once we start, we can't stop." Nelrim said, a cold atmosphere to add to effect. "We shall train you in the afternoons, right after team missions. This time of day, you have the most mental concentration. When we do this, you cannot use any clones, because the sheer pressure this will put you under great stress and will hurt, badly, and pop them before they can do do anything. Kina and I are taking the utmost concentration in ensuring you don't get hurt, but every problem that can occur you can avoid if you do it right the first time. This is no trial and error lesson. This is a do it right, or fail miserably. So, after hearing all that, are you still in?"

Naruto nodded, knowing he might regret it later, but with all these precautions, it has to be something worth it.

"I need to hear your voice, Naruto. What is your answer?"

"I'll do it. I swear on my nindo that I will do it the right way, no buts about it." Naruto said.

Both Kina and Nelrim smiled, knowing that they got the point across.

"Alright," Kina started. "Mizu Kanryuu is both a ninjutsu style, and a taijutsu style tied into one. It involves a large amount of energy being pushed into a tiny area, like the size of a needle, and forcing it out slowly. If you do this correctly, you will have mastered the first step of the Mizu Kanryuu."

"What do you mean, concentrated energy?" Naruto asked.

"It's better shown then explained first." Nelrim said. "Kina, if you will." Kina nodded.

She nodded, and looked at a nearby tree. Naruto could feel yokou move throughout the air. Suddenly, it all swirled to her right paw. She lifted it up, and a small thin stream of yokou that looked deep red, much deeper then he was used to seeing, come out of her paw and hit the tree. At first nothing happened, but the tree suddenly the tree exploded around the point of contact, and fell to the ground.

"Whoa." was all Naruto could say.

Nelrim spoke up, "Yes, whoa. This is the first lesson in Mizu Kanryuu. Remember chakra hops?"

"You mean the exercise to take the same amount of chakra, and force it out at different concentrations?"

"Exactly." Nelrim said. "But this time, you will be concentrating it so much, that it will hurt, and it will feel like your hand will burst. After you can perform the technique for the first time, you will do it over and over again until your chakra channels harden till it can handle it. Then we work on your left hand. From there, you will work on all the tenketsu until they can handle the strain and harden."

"Alright. Give me an estimate on how much chakra I'm pushing into a small space." Naruto asked.

Nelrim calculated it, as with Kina. "How much would you say?" she asked. Nelrim looked thoughtful for a second more. "Seeing as how his chakra has a healing factor, is denser then normal, has three elemental affinities."

"Wait, I have what!?" Naruto asked.

"Not now, Naruto." Kina said. He stored it in the 'ask later' box, and continued listening.

"Chakra tunnels made to withstand both yokou and his special chakra." Nelrim continued. "I would say... how much do you use when you create a 100 percent chakra clone?"

"I don't really know, all I know is that I can make 23 now, and then I pass out."

"Right, we need half of that. So about how much it would take to make about 12 of those clones." Nelrim said.

"Ha-half!?" Naruto said.

"Remember, the first step is to strengthen your chakra tunnels. You wont need half of your chakra to actually use the abilities."

Naruto nodded.

"Now, sit down, and start focusing." Kina said.

"We'll stop you if you go over that limit." Nelrim said.

Naruto sat down in a meditation stance, and started concentrating. He put his right hand forward, and started channeling chakra to it.

"More, Naruto. More." Nelrim said.

He channeled more into his hand, and the coils in it started to hurt from pressure.

"That's it, Naruto. Push more into your hand." Kina said.

Naruto's hand hurt more, as he put more pressure in his hand.

"That's it Naruto, push more into your hand, and start making it smaller. Keep it in the palm of your hand. Don't let it stream into your fingers. Make it smaller, more concentrated." Nelrim said. "Okay, when I when 'now' I want you to release it from your hand in as small a stream as you can, but slowly, not all at once. Keep it up... now."

A stream of chakra much darker then normal, came out of his hand. It wasn't as small as Kina's was. It was about the size of a pencil. When it hit the tree, the chakra 'splashed' out, and covered the area in highly concentrated chakra. Nelrim acted fast, and covered all of them in a shield. Naruto kept it up for 30 seconds. When the chakra cleared, Nelrim let the shield down.

Naruto grabbed the wrist of his right hand with his left, and curled into a fetal position around it. He held back the scream of pain, but still grunted as he tried to control the pain.

"Right. That was the first time. It always hurts the most." Nelrim said. "Now, you'll get 20 minutes of rest, and we'll do it again. We need to do it 10 times today."

"Ten times? Are you sure?" Kina said.

"Yes. He can handle it. If not, we'll call it off at number 6." Nelrim said.

"You weren't kidding. It fucking HURTS!" Naruto finally able to make a sentence... if a little vulgar.

–

Hinata, after the meeting, went off to a secluded garden just outside of the village. It was a small training ground with plenty of flowers at her feet. Hinata had fond memories of this place. Her mother used to take her here. Hinata never learned how she went from the compound to the garden, just that she would wake up under the stars in her mother's hold.

After she had gotten back from Wave, Hiraku told her to go outside the village, and down a secluded path. When Hinata first came back, she cried, and she couldn't stop. The memories flooded her mind from it.

It took a couple of days, but she could finally come to the garden without crying. Now, she used her mother's special area, to train in her new taijutsu that Hiraku was teaching her in.

Currently, she was flying through all the katas. And I mean all of them, even the most advanced ones, it had only taken her 1 week to unlearn the Jyuuken, and 3 weeks to fully learn Ryuuken. Hinata had such a bright mind, the fact that she couldn't use Jyuuken did not mean that she wasn't smart.

Hiraku was off to the side, watching her container with a trained eye. "Okay, that's enough kitten. You've done wonderfully. Now, I'm going to teach you the techniques to use with them. If you work hard enough, you might completely master the style by the time the chuunin exams roll around."

Hinata was happy to hear that, but knew she had a lot of work ahead of her.

"The first technique is actually the opposite of the eight trigrams 64 palm technique. It is the ultimate defensive and offensive technique, and even beats the Kaiton right out."

Hinata was serious. The Kaiton was one of the clans major specialties. If this technique could beat the Kaiton_(Rotation)_ then it would have to be something powerful.

"Alright, the first step is.."

–

Kurenai was stalking through town. She was looking for her target. Anko. She had heard that she was trainng someone, but Naruto of all people?!

Then again, she shouldn't be surprised. Naruto had the knack for meeting the strangest of people, and getting along well with them.

Kurenai found the women she was looking for, and saw her sitting with three other people in the dango shop.

_'That's new. Usually it's only Hana and me who hang around Anko.'_ Kurenai thinks. She enters the dango shop.

Anko looks up with a dango stick hanging from her mouth. "Yo, what's up, Nai-chan?"

Kurenai's eye twitched. "I'll tell you what's up... I just found out who your Nii-kun is."

The stick in Anko's mouth falls out. She caught the stick, and threw it into a tree nearby. "So, did you like him?"

There, sitting with Anko, was Haku, Hana, and Tenten as well. Hana's three dogs, the triplets were sitting right under the table at Hana's feet. Inuzuka Hana. Kiba's older brother.

Kurenai's mouth twitched. "You know, you could have told me."

"Awh, but that would've ruined the fun." Said Anko happily.

Kurenai's hand twitched. "HELL, YES I WOULD! Do you know how impressionable Naruto is!? Hell, he just used a sexual innuendo in front of Hinata-chan!"

All four at the table just looked at Kurenai like she was crazy.

Anko spoke slowly, "And, what does that have to do with me?"

"You use more sexual innuendos then anyone else in the village, and you train Naruto as his older sister. Yea, I put 2 and 2 together."

"Okay fine. You caught me. But it wasn't on purpose." Anko said.

"Uno." Tenten spoke up. "Who is this?"

Anko spoke up. "Ah, this is my friend, Kurenai-chan. She's sweet, but beware. She's a mother hen. And her chicks? Her squad." … _'3.... 2... 1...'_

"I know, right?" Kurenai said, in a childish voice. Now, most people would just burst in anger from hearing this, but.. um.. Ah what the hell... She already admitted to being a mother hen a long time ago.

Two of the other members face faulted. Hana, already being a friend of Anko's for quite a while now, has already heard this story. Unfortunately, the other two weren't warned.

As Tenten got up, she looked at Kurenai dead in the eye, and said, "You wont make it into the clan with that attitude."

"Clan? What clan?" Kurenai asked.

Haku spoke up, "Remember the one I talked about while in the Hokage's tower?"

Kurenai paled. "Wh-what's the clan's name?"

"Togatta." Haku answered.

"Who are the member's so far?" Kurenai asked, this time genuinely curious.

"So far, it's only us four. We were considering other memebers." Tenten said.

Anko spoke up, "So far, we have six positions open up for joining. We will be known as the Juutogatta_(Ten points)_."

"So, who are you considering?" Kurenai asked.

"Weeeell... We were thinking of adding in Naruto-kun. We just have to bring out his inner pointy." Anko said with a devilish smile.

"Oh, the mental imaging scares that brought up." Kurenai said.

"It just shows that you're just as perverted as us, Kurenai-chan." Hana said.

"Hana-chan. Not you, too?" Kurenai asked.

"Yeap, I've been turned to the darkside. How could I resist? They had cookies." Hana said. _(Oh, the backlash I will be getting from that line. Oh well, it's my fic, and it was worth it.)_

Kurenai's eye twitched. She brought her emotions under control, and sighed. "Fine, just promise you wont be too wild, Okay?"

None of them spoke up.

"You're going to pretend you didn't hear that, and go ahead and be wild, aren't you?"

"Oh, yea." Anko and Hana said together.

Kurenai sighed, shoulders dropped in defeat, and walked off. The members continued their dar- Uh, I mean, fruitful plans.

–

Shino was having a hard day. Why? On contrary to popular belief, the Aburame did have emotions. It was just so bottled up, that they couldn't feel much.

They had to do this, so that they could control their bugs.

So, why was Shino have a bad day? He felt left out. He felt that Hinata and Naruto had a big secret. His logical side said that if they did, it wouldn't be a secret if they told everyone. So why was he so down?

He thought back the the mission just three weeks ago.

_Flashback_

_A girl with neon green hair had just started talking to Naruto and Hinata. All three looked so friendly. But what bothered him, is what Naruto Hinata and this 'Fu' girl had in common. They all talked about numbers._

_Whenever he looked at 'Fu' his bugs would calm down, and start telling him to approach the girl. He fought down the urge made by the bugs, but still watched._

_Fu glanced in his direction, and he could have sworn his heart missed a beat. The three ended their conversation, and Fu walked away._

_Shino turned around, and followed his fellow Konoha teammates home._

_End flashback_

_'Just what secret are they holding from me?'_ Shino thought. He sighed in defeat. _'And why do I keep thinking of that girl?'_

"-ino-san. Shino-san."

"Hm, what? What is it Naruto?" Shino had seen that it was Naruto.

"I finished training for the day, and was on my way to Ichiruka's. You were walking right down the path I was using, and called out to you. You were fazed out or something." Naruto said.

"My apologies, Naruto-san." Shino said. "I was just thinking."

"Since when did, 'just thinking,' ever make you unaware of your surroundings?" Said Naruto. He was being slightly more thoughtful then usual.

"You are correct in saying that, Naruto-san." Shino said.

Naruto thought for a moment, "Hey, c'mon, join me for a ramen. I was just heading there anyways. My treat, since you seem to be out of it."

Shino thought it over. He didn't have any clan meetings for the day, and it would be a great moment to ask his ever present question. "Thank you, Naruto-san. I will gladly take up your offer." Shino said with more happiness then he intended.

"Great!" Naruto almost yelled out. The two walked into the store, and sat down.

"Hello, Naruto." Teuchi looked closely at Shino. "And who is this, might I add?"

"This is my Teammate, Shino-san." Naruto said. "I'll be paying for whatever he eats today. He seems out of it."

"Of course, of course. So what can I get you two?"

"3 beef ramen, please." Naruto said, and looked to Shino.

"1 miso for me." Shino said.

"Alrighty, 3 beef, and one miso to start. Do you want me to keep the noodles warm for more?" Teuchi asked.

"Sure, I might add more." Naruto said.

"Coming right up." Teuchi said. He turned to walk to the door. "Oh, by the way. Where's Kina-chan?"

"She had to go home to," He put his fingers in the air, " quote on quote, 'plan something.' I have no clue what she's up to, but I don't want to find out."

"Living with a fox will do that, Naruto. I'll be back in 3 minutes." Tecuhi saluted the gennin, and walked into the kitchen.

"So, Shino-san. What's on your mind?" Naruto asked.

_'Blunt as always.'_ "Well. Do you remember our meeting with that girl named Fu?" Shino asked.

"Yea, what about her?"

"Well, I felt something strange when I looked at her." Shino said.

Naruo gulped. _'Can her feel yokou? That girl was pouring it out like no one's business. I mean, that's why Kina knew who it was, but I didn't think anyone else would feel it.'_ "What do you mean by, felt something?"

"I don't know, my bugs just kept telling me to get closer to her, to feel her presence. It was overwhelming."

"You mean you wanted to get closer to her?" Naruto said.

"Yes, very much so." Shino said.

Naruto sighed. _'So I guess his bugs felt the alluring chakra of the 7 tailed horned beetle. A bug type demon would call out for other bugs to be friendly.' _"Well, what do your bugs tell you about me and Hinata-chan?"

Shino thought a moment. "They tell me you both are an ally with amazing hidden power locked away."

Naruto thought seriously a moment. "How do YOU feel about Hinata-chan and me?"

"Teammates. Companions. Friends. People who wont look away from me, just because of what's inside of me." Shino said truthfully.

Naruto nodded.

"Alright. 3 beef ramen, and 1 miso ramen." Teuchi said as he came out of the kitchen. He put the platter down, and served the bowls, and went back into the kitchen.

They both ate in silence. Well, as silent as Naruto is while slurping ramen. After eating his third bowl, Teuchi came back out with 3 more. "Anymore for you, Shino-san?"

Shino looked up. "I would like 2 more. These are good."

"I know, right?" Naruto said. "I worship these more then the log." Naruto stopped right when he said that. He got a worried face, and looked outside.

"BLASPHEMY!" Several ninja yelled out.

"Hey, I still worship the log!" Naruto said.

The group of ninja. Anyone older then 16 chuunin to jounin to ANBU alike had shown up. ANBU more so then others.

"Prove it!" They chanted.

"I held up a holy log to finish a test!"

"Prove it!" They continued.

"Fine!" He used some chakra, and clones came into existence without a poof and a handsign. "GO!"

"YES SIR!" And they all kawarimi with logs.

"BEHOLD THE MIGHTY LO-" BANG!

"Not. In front. Of my store." Teuchi said. He had thrown a pot at Naruto, luckily it was empty.

"Oh, fine. Ruin our fun." Naruto said, he looked back to the other ninja. "We'll try again tomorrow, guys."

They all nodded, and Shunshin'd out of there.

He sat back down, and continued eating his ramen like nothing happened. When he put down bowl number four, he asked Teuchi, "Where's Ayame-nee-chan?"

"Oh, she was sick, so I sent her home." He said.

"Okay. Tell her to get well soon."

"Consider it done." Teuchi said. He looked to Shino. "Shino-san. You going to finish your ramen?"

"Huh? Oh right." Shino said.

"Don't tell me you blanked all of it." Naruto said after bowl number 5.

"No, I saw it all. Nice performance if I might add. Logically, though, it could use some work." Shino said.

Naruto sighed. "You figured it out, huh?"

"How in time they were. How they seemed to be keeping their right hand down, like you, and how they all 'shunshin'd' at the same time." Shino said. "In short, clones."

Naruto sighed. "Drat, got to work on that."

"Speaking of which, you seem to be using your right hand less then normal. What happened?"

"Training." Naruto said, and started bowl 7, after he finished it, he put it down, and looked at Shino. "Meet Hinata-chan and me after practice tomorrow at training ground 13."

Shino just finsihed his third bowl, and he was full. "Alright." He got up. "Am I to assume you are still paying?"

"Yeap, I'll finish up here and head home." Naruto said.

"Goodnight, Naruto-san." And shino walked back toward the Aburame clan compound.

–

Date started chapter 9, December 28, 2009. My nineteenth b-day.

Date finished chapter 9, December 29, 2009.

Date started chapter 10, December 30, 2009.

Date finished chapter 10, January 1, 2010.

Date did first reread, January 2, 2010.

Date rechecked sources, January 3, 2010.

Date did final read, January 4, 2010.

As you can see, I did this all in a short amount of time. I did do a final read, but if you see something that was off, please tell me. If anything seems wrong, please tell me. I didn't have my resources when I wrote these chapters, and as such, I could be off on a few things. Please PM me if you see something wrong.

PHEW! I had gone and written up a monster XD Tell me how you guys liked it.

To Third Fang. No I'm not copying you with the log thing. I was reading it in another fanfic, and went to watch Naruto abridged on Youtube again. I wont use the log joke as much as this chapter... only when I need to break up a solemn mood.


	11. Chapter 11: The Past

Disclaimer: I don't own squat.

Now on to the fic...

–

Chapter 11: Change, the Past, and Healing of the Soul

"Alright team." Kurenai said. "You have the rest of today and tomorrow off. Dismissed." and she disappeared to go turn in the results of their D ranked missions.

Naruto looked to Shino, and said, "Come with us, Shino-san."

Shino nodded, and they took off.

The reached a training ground that had several trees knocked over, or blown up.

"What is it you wanted to talk about with me, Naruto-san?" Shino asked.

Naruto looked over to Hinata, they both nodded. "We talked it over, and decided you should be in on the secret." she said.

"What secret, might I ask?" Shino was genuinely curious.

Hinata did three hand signs, and held out her hands. A kitten appeared on Hinata's hand.

The fox, Kina, looked at Shino pointedly. She really didn't know if they should tell him, but they had already decided, and now they would tell.

"Shino-san." Naruto started. "Do you know what happened almost 14 years ago?"

"Yes, the village was attack by the demon Kyuubi no kitsune. One day, the Yondaime Hokage went and defeated the demon. He sacrificed his life in the process though." Shino said.

Naruto nodded. "As I expected from the book worm of our group. Yes, that's exactly what they said. But that not exactly what happened. You see, they didn't tell you the whole story. What happened was this."

Naruto said the whole story, how he was a Jinchuriki, how Hinata was in the same boat.

The whole time, Shino just sat there, silent. The two were a little scared. They couldn't read his emotions much.

"And finally, meet the kyuubi no kitsune, and the nibi no Bakeneko themselves." The kitten and the fox stepped forward, shyly.

Shino looked at them, and then at Naruto. He saw the serious face the two teammates had in front of him. Shino let his hand go forward. He brushed Kina on the head, in a petting fashion. "I don't know why you four are scared." he said finally. "I have never seen you attack anyone once, without Naruto's permission." he said to Kina. "And you, Nibi, or should I say Hiraku-sama, have not attacked anyone either. I have seen you up and about with Hinata-san. I don't think that you are dangerous to friends."

Naruto and Hinata sighed in relief. Hinata looked up, she needed an answer to her question. "Why do you accept us so readily?"

"Even if these two were evil, and you two told me about yourselves, I would have still seen you for who you are. Remember, my enter clan is shunned, because of what's inside of us. Yet our bugs help and do good, more then bad. How could I do the same to you?" Shino asked.

And with that, they became closer friends. Shino felt happy he was in on the secret. And he finally understood what was with Fu. She was one as well. But whenever he thought of her, he felt a longing feeling for the girl. He didn't voice it, but the other's sensed it when they mentioned her.

–

Four months. That's the amount of time until the next chuunin exams start. Four months, and Naruto will be start the next step towards Hokage.

Naruto tensed. He focused his chakra across his entire body. He was starting to work on hardening all his chakra pathways. His right and left hands could now withstand his entire chakra reserves, and his feet were now hardened as well.

The pain he felt the first time he tried this was beyond excruciating. In fact, he couldn't move for an entire day.

The second day was worse. He had accidentally ripped open one of the pathways in his leg wide open. It took Kina and Nelrim a bit, but they managed to fix it.

This was day three of focusing the chakra in his body's pathways.

He started to move the chakra in his body around. Speeding it up to impressive amounts. He could feel it move in his body.

"That's it, Naruto. Push the concentrated chakra all throughout your body." Nelrim said. "More. You need to push yourself."

Naruto complied. He moved the chakra faster, and his body felt a new wave of pain pass over him. Chakra burns started to appear on his exposed chest.

"Keep that level Naruto. No more, no less." Nelrim said.

Kina was standing by, waiting for the right moment to send her healing energy to spread across his body.

"Just a little longer, Naruto."

His arms started to get black marks. His neck and forehead were burned now as well.

"Now, release it!"

Waves of chakra went out of Naruto's various tenketsu points. The chakra acted like slicing blades, destroying trees around him, and making the clearing a bit bigger.

Immediately, Kina sent her yokou into the boy, attempting to heal him.

Naruto still felt the pain convulse across his body. He screamed, and passed out.

"That was try number two today." Kina said. "This part really does hurt the humans."

"Yes." Nelrim said. "It might not be painful for chi users, or yokou users, but chakra, when focused, can burn the human. Even with the fact that Naruto doesn't have a fire affinity, he'll still get burned."

"You know, I still find that strange. He has a wind affinity from birth. That I can understand. But how did he get a water affinity with me inside of him?" Kina asked.

"There are things that even us immortals are to not understand. Kami and Yami must've given him the water affinity, because if he had a fire affinity, Naruto would have been much worse when he lost control yesterday."

Kina nodded. "He still got one thing from me though. The lightning affinity."

Nelrim nodded. "Wind being his main. Water and lightning a close second." he paused. "How did you teach him sage only jutsu when he doesn't have a fire affinity?"

"Wanna know something really strange?" She asked, with a bad feeling laced in the words.

"It can't be that bad." Nelrim said.

"It is. I've never seen it happen before. When Naruto enters sage mode completely, his affinity for water disappears, like it was never there. In it's place is a fire affinity." Kina said. "Nothing, across all the contracts, has ever happened like that before."

Nelrim was surprised at this.

Now why is changing affinities so surprising? Well, because of three reasons. One, chakra affinity is determined by one or all of three things. Personality, hereditary, or exposure to element. The exposure to the element has to be a long time, like almost their entire life time. Two, in order to change an affinity, the chakra has to become completely different. That can't happen instantly. The chakra has to be remixed, and the old chakra has to be expelled. Three, when a chakra affinity changes, it's almost always permanent. Only a few humans have ever changed their elements completely, and it took them an entire lifetime to do it. Once the change happens it, it wont go back. It has been known to drive humans insane.

"So, you're saying he can change his affinity from water to fire by entering sage mode?" Nelrim asked.

Kina nodded.

Nelrim thought about it for a minute. "How does he handle the techniques?"

"He handles the beginner ones quite well, but I have yet to teach him more advanced ones. I was afraid that his affinity might change completely from over exposure to sage mode." Kina said.

Nelrim nodded, understanding the reason.

Naruto stirred from blissful sleep, and back to painful reality. Literally. Naruto scrunched his face up in pain, but managed to open his eyes.

"Welcome back, lad." Nelrim said. "You get a few hours of rest, and we'll head right back in."

Naruto moaned in hate, but nodded in understanding. He got back into a meditative state. Except for the boxers he had on, he was otherwise without clothes. The reason for this, was that if he released the chakra with his clothes on, it would rip them to pieces. As it was, his boxers were barely holding on.

"Tell me, if I use the technique in battle like that, would my clothes rip to pieces?" Naruto asked.

"Not really. You're using all your chakra to do this part. In battle you'll only use a small fraction of your chakra, and it'll be to the same effect, but without ripping your clothes apart." Nelrim said. "The only real difference is the range in which this attack goes. Look around you."

Naruto did, seeing the destruction go around him for about 30 meters.

"That is the distance that this attack goes, when using all your chakra. The actual distance will only be five feet. That might not seem like much, but trust me, it's more then enough." Nelrim said.

Kina decided to add her two cents. "Remember, this technique we are teaching you is a close range taijutsu mixed with short range ninjutsu. That five feet is part of your short range. Remember the fist technique we showed you?"

Naruto remembered. When he completed his hand training, they showed him a by product of the hardening. A technique called 'Impact.' Impact was just a short 6 feet range. Naruto would focus a small concentrated amount to his knuckles, and release the chakra when he punched. If it was inside of the range, it would make a steady impact with his strength as the power to it. However strong he was, the Impact copied at a range. The same could be said for his legs in a sweep. This was called 'Slice,' as it would make slicing motion through the air. Again, however strong his kick was, it was copied at a range of 7 feet or less.

"Same product there as well." Kina said. "Oh, and we forgot to add. If you have more concentration, you can make the skills go farther."

Naruto nodded. He felt the yokou withdraw from his body.

"There, you're all healed now, but don't try anything drastic, or you might pass out." Kina said.

"We'll be back in 3 hours time." with that they disappeared.

Naruto was left with three hours to do something. His body still felt like hell, but at least he could move around. He decided to walk around town.

–

Naruto had entered the village and was just passing over a bridge that crossed over a river. Ahead of him, he saw a strange sight.

10 people were arguing. 5 on each side of the argument. On one side, it was Anko, Tenten, Haku, Hana, and Cat ANBU. On the other side, surprisingly, it was Iruka, Kakashi, a guy wearing a green spandex outfit, and two ANBU. A dragon masked one, and the other a hawk. Naruto could also hear the conversation, due to his advanced hearing.

"...Is precise in all it's ways! You cannot deny the reason the Log exists!" Iruka yelled.

"But the pointy objects of doom are better! They kill your enemies with quick precision!" Anko yelled back.

"Preposterous!" Kakashi yelled back. "The Log can, and will, save us all from doom!"

"The Log is nothing against my sword!" Tenten yelled back.

"Those small pointy things you call weapons will be stopped by our Log deity!" Hawk yelled out.

"My pointy senbon can pierce straight through your measly little Log!" Haku yelled back.

"THE FLAMES OF YOUTH IN THE LOG CAN HELP YOU TRAIN AND MOVE FASTER THEN YOUR MEASLY LITTLE WEAPONS!" The guy in green spandex yelled back.

Hana yelled back, "My dogs, with their pointy fangs and claws, can rip through your Log like it was nothing!"

Dragon spoke up, "Yes, but can those pointy objects save you from doom?"

Cat held up her sword. "YES! My sword has saved me multiple times, and has turned the tide of my battles in a single second!"

The argument continued on, in that matter. Naruto quickly turned around to leave, but it was too late. Tenten had sensed him.

"I know! We'll get Naruto-kun to decide once and for all which one wins!" Tenten yelled back.

Naruto tensed. _'Shit...'_

He quickly ran for it. _"Kina,"_ he thought. _"Let me release the gravity seals!"_

"_If you do, you might pass out. What possible trouble could you have gotten into this time?"_

"_I didn't do anything I swear!"_ Naruto yelled back in his mind. He sent a mental image of what happened.

"_..."_ Silence on the other side. He then heard laughing in his mind. Naruto, at that point, knew he was screwed. He released what he could of the gravity seals, and ran for it. It was no use.

Naruto turned a corner. There was the green spandex guy from earlier. "YOSH! SHOW ME YOUR YOUTHFULNESS BY COMING TO THE SIDE OF THE LOG!"

Naruto turned and ran. At another corner. Kakashi stood there. "Join the Log, or else you will feel pain."

Naruto turned to run down another street.

Cat was standing in his way. "Join the way of the pointy!"

Naruto turned and ran down another alley. The hawk suddenly showed up, "Join the log!"

Then a smell caught his nose. He followed it to Ichiruka's the only safe haven from the peanut gang.

He sat down, thinking he'd lost them.

"Oh, Na-ru-to-kun." Naruto tensed, and looked to his left. Sure enough, there was Tenten, and Anko sitting at the counter with him. "We'll buy you ramen if you join the dark pointy side."

Naruto's mouth watered. How could he turn down ladies who offered him ramen?

"NOOOO!" Dragon yelled out. "That's cheating!"

Anko laughed, "All's fair in love and war."

"Don't listen to them, Naruto! Stay with the light of the Log!" Dragon kept yelling.

"But they have raaaaameeeeen." Naruto said.

Dragon thought quickly. "Naruto, if you stay with the light, I'll buy you an entire month's worth of ramen."

Naruto's mouth watered even more. He opened his mouth to accept, when someone else cut him off. "Naruto-kun" Tenten said. "We'll buy you two months worth of ramen, plus two extra surprises." she smiled slyly.

Dragon tensed. He didn't think that he could equal that two month ramen quota. "Naruto, one month of ramen, plus sword training!"

Naruto looked back to the girls. He raised an eyebrow. He always wanted to try out a sword.

Tenten still smiled. "One of my surprises is sword training, and a free sword to boot." Naruto raised another eyebrow. "Besides, those log lover boys wont even train you properly, I with my pointy wisdom, can train you in the ways of sharpness."

Naruto looked back to the Dragon, and the other members that had shown up. "YOSH! I CAN TRAIN YOU TO BE SUPER FAST!"

Naruto knew that would be hard to beat. He looked back to Tenten. She was still smiling. "Fine, you made me bring out my ultimate weapon!" She raised a storage scroll, and released some of the contents. "Who wants cookies?"

"I've decided!" Naruto yelled. "I shall join th-"

"Naruto, your three hours of goofing off are up." Nelrim said, as he appeared on Naruto's shoulder. "Time to head back."

"NOOO-" Naruto yelled, then disappeared.

"Where did he go?" everyone asked.

Tenten spoke up. "That's proves it! Naruto-kun was going to join us!"

"Oh no you don't. It doesn't count until he's said it himself!" Kakashi yelled back.

"Fine, whoever gets Naruto into their group shall win!" Teuchi said. Everyone looked to him. "I shall be the referee. Once Naruto tells me, then that side has won."

Everyone agreed.

Poor Naruto.

–

"The pointier the object, the smoother it goes in." Hinata reveled. "I was never really allowed to train with shuriken and kunai. I guess it's time I caught up."

She was playing in her free time. She was given two hours around lunch time to relax and rest, before she started training with Hiraku. She really enjoyed this time.

One day, she had noticed a stray kunai on the ground, and had picked it up. She didn't know why, but the kunai was so alluring. It was shaped differently then most kunai. It had three prongs, one long and two short. The handle had a strange seal on it. The metal was silver colored instead of the usual black. It was so shiny, and pretty. She didn't know why she was drawn to it. Then she noticed it. "It shines, just like Naruto-kun." Hinata had said that day.

Since then, she's grown fonder of the kunai, and she's always kept it on her on a necklace.

She started training with weapons in her spare time, growing used to a katana the most. She liked how the blade seemed to dance in her control. She would show that she could shine, just like Naruto.

"_Okay, Kitten, time to start training."_

Hinata nodded, and summoned the kitten out.

"Alright, first up, I've got a little something for you Hinata-chan." A scroll appeared near her. "Do you know what a summoning contract is?"

–

"-OOOOO!" Naruto yelled out, as he appeared back in the clearing. He looked around. "Damn you, you stupid cat! I was about to get the deal of a lifetime!"

"Well, you can go back, and see if you can get it later. You're going to start the next set of body pulse now." Nelrim said.

Naruto grumbled, and got undressed to get started.

–

The hokage was grumbling as he did paper work for the day. He would watch Naruto, but the damned glass wasn't seeing anything close to him. The cat, Nelrim, must be with him.

_'Speaking of which, I still have to get those forms for Nelrim done. As with all undead treaties, the major kages must be told.'_ The hokage thought.

–

The tow cults... err... I mean groups of people who have a scary level of affiliation for inanimate objects were searching high and low for our hero. They were determined to win, and in the process, gain a follower.

It was growing dark, and they had almost given up on searching. Anko saw a flash of silver hair. She smiled.

She ran after it, and pounced on the source of silver light. "I got you, Naruto-kun."

"It's nice to be hugged by a maniac, and all." Kakashi started. "But could you get off me, you dark pointy weapon lover."

"Darn you and your silver hair." Anko said.

"Right." Kakashi said, and sped off.

Anko was left standing there, trying to think of where Naruto goes to train. She bopped herself in the head. "Why didn't I think of that?!" and she sped off towards training ground 13.

–

Anko was humming lightly to herself, as she approached training ground 13 at a leisure shinobi pace. And by that, I mean running through the trees at speeds that could kill humans with her eyes closed.

She felt a pulse of heavy chakra, and then Naruto screaming.

Anko quickened her pace. She reached the grounds, just in time to watch Naruto, who was almost completely burned from chakra, fall back and pass out. "What happened to him?"

Nelrim spoke up. "Training. This is not something for you to know. Sorry, Anko."

And then she passed out from the mental pressure Nelrim put onto her mind. He teleported her back to the village, where she would wake up without the knowledge of the past hour.

–

Anko woke up on a roof of the local sake bar.

"Oops, must've passed out from too much sake. Now where was I? Oh yes. I was chasing down Naruto so that I could make him join our group. Now where could he be?" Anko thought.

–

"That's the fifth one I sent back today." Nelrim said. "How are they finding us?"

"ANBU and jounin have their ways." Kina said. "They felt the pulse of chakra from Naruto-kun here, and followed it."

"I didn't know they could follow pulses." Nelrim said.

"Yeap, it's somewhat similar how you latch onto your kind of power." Kina said.

"Oh, so maybe that's why I don't know of it." Nelrim said. "It's a power conduit that I don't understand."

"Something like that." Kina said. "So, how far along is he?"

Nelrim looked back to Naruto. "I don't know. Each of these pulses are painful. His chakra coils are hardening, but not enough. Chakra is still seeping out. The less chakra burns he has in the end, the closer we get to the end of step one."

Kina looked thoughtful. "If chakra is this painful at only step one. How will he survive steps three and five?"

"He's survived his line awakening ability, and that has less of a chance of survival then them." Nelrim said.

"I hope we aren't killing the poor boy." Kina said.

"He's the number one unpredictable knuckle head ninja in the entire village. He'll live. He has to." Nelrim said. "And besides, the gods of this realm had told us to teach him it. If they have faith in him, we should as well." he paused. "Besides, I could always use that on him to force his survival."

Kina looked wide eyed. "Don't you dare turn him. We have one demon turned blood frenzy, we don't need another."

Nelrim nodded, he knew that would get her protective side out, which would increase the healing rate of Naruto.

Nelrim smiled. _'I can't manipulate people like Hiraku-sama, but I still go it, baby.'_

–

Two months remaining.

Naruto pulsed the chakra in his body once more. It was now easy for him to do it. All he needed was a couple seconds of rest, and he could do the body pulse again. It didn't even burn him anymore.

"Good job, Naruto." Nelrim said. "With that, you have officially mastered the first step of the Mizu Kanryuu."

Naruto jumped for joy. "WOOHOO!"

"But that doesn't mean you can fight using it yet. Welcome to step two. Learning the katas to control this ability." Naruto said.

Naruto calmed down. He would finally start learning the taijutsu portion of this set.

"As you could have figured it out, this taijutsu set is all about fighting from a set and short distance. Too far, and you can't hit them. Too close, and they can hit you. This style has no defense. Only offensive." Nelrim said.

Naruto nodded in understanding.

Kina spoke up, "Right, the first kata to learn is the arch. This will make up most of your attacks, as it requires the least amount of chakra, concentration, and energy to use, but still hurts your enemy a lot. First off, chakra hops you'll be using it to start most of these. You will use the it to launch yourself in the air and a bit forward. You will come come using a side kick or an axe kick to the ground, using the slice in the process. This will strengthen your attack, and send it farther then normal. Once you hit the ground, you will push off again, doing a back flip, and use the slice once more at the right time. If you do it right, you can actually focus for a ninjutsu during the arch."

Naruto nodded.

"Right, the second kata is..."

–

Hiashi was getting worried. His daughter had asked if she could go on a one month training trip last month. Hiashi was against it at first, but when Hinata had yelled at him for keeping her weak, Hiashi couldn't disagree. _'She's finally getting stronger.'_ He thought.

The door to his office suddenly opened. "Hiashi-sama." The branch member that was asked to go with her said. "Hinata-sama has returned."

"Good, send her in." Hiashi said in his usual passiveness.

"Hai, Hiashi-sama." and the branch member disappeared.

A few moments passed, and Hinata opened the door. She was wearing her normal attire, but a light blue long coat was covering her up, then her usual coat. A hood adorned her head.

Hiashi used his Byakugan to see the back of it. He was surprised to see a symbol for sage on her back.

"S-sage?" Hiashi asked.

Hinata smiled, and nodded. "Hai, father. I'm a sage now."

"Of which contract?" He asked, already having a hint at what it was.

"Cat contract." she said.

Hiashi sighed. "I know you can hear this, Hiraku-sama. If you change my daughter into what her mother was, then we will have problems."

"_Oops."_ was all Hinata heard in her mind.

Hinata's eyes must have told him that the cat had heard. "What did she say?"

"'Oops.'" Hinata answered.

Hiashi paled, and for the first time in many many years, he passed out.

"Wow, is that what I look like when I pass out?" Hinata said.

"_A little, only you're cuter."_ Hiraku said back.

Hinata giggled. "Neji-kun. Can you come in here please?" she yelled out.

The door opened. "You needed me, Hinata-_sama_?"

"Yes, my dear fathered seems to have passed out. Could you be a dear and grab me some tea and smelling salts?" Hinata asked all lady like.

"Hai, Hinata-sama." Neji said, and walked out.

"_We need to get rid of the ten foot pole that's in his ass."_ Hiraku said.

Hinata looked confused. "What do you mean, Hiraku-chan?"

"_He's got a stuck up personality, and we have to get rid of that. We need to dislodge the stick in his personality."_ Hiraku said.

"Oh. So why is it up his ass?" Hinata asked.

Hiraku sighed. _"Never mind, Hinata-chan."_

–

One month to the chuunin exams.

Naruto was getting itchy for a fight. He had a whole new fighting style that he could use. The fox kata style was temporarily banned, due to 'Complications with the body.' Don't get Naruto wrong, he's remastered Sage mode once more. It's just that they didn't want him to use it.

The style he CAN use is step 2 of Mizu Kanryuu. It had come along nicely, if a bit short. Apparently he couldn't go into the more advanced katas until he completed step 3.

He couldn't wait for the exams.

Naruto also learned about his bloodline abilities. Nelrim had finally gotten around to talking about it three days ago.

_Flashback_

_Nelrim had just said that Naruto was done for the day._

"_Hey, Nelrim." Naruto said, panting from the katas he did._

"_Yes?"_

"_I want to know something. What does my bloodline do?"_

_Nelrim sighed. "I guess we couldn't avoid it for very long." He paused, thinking about how he would say it. "Kagedoushinkai. A sub form of the King's Soul bloodline."_

"_Huh, what's that?"_

"_Shut up, and I'll tell you. Now, The King's Soul bloodline belongs to a race of beings called the Triste. Essentially, these people live forever, and has gained power to control things through telekinesis and telepathy. Some even show the ability to use elements with their minds. Mind you, I'm not talking about the elements you know. No, these are the elements that make up matter. Atoms. You might not be able to imagine it, but every single thing is made up of atoms. The mix of different types of atoms make up life as we know it. Back on subject, this bloodline comes at a cost though. Your humanity, and the need to suck life out of people to continue living. Sure you can eat and drink, but for you to truly live, you need the souls of people around you." Nelrim said._

"_I... I wont become this.. will I?" Naruto said, not wanting to lose his humanity._

"_No, luckily, it seems you have a very watered down version of it. You use up the chakra in your body to continue living. In turn it will give you two things. One, special chakra. This golden colored chakra essentially makes you invulnerable to massive damage for a short period of time. Do not be mistaken, you can still die. The reason for this chakra is the second thing I will say. It will allow you to move faster then any other human alive, at the cost of you using your special chakra. It will increase the rate at which your mind processes, acting, and reaction times. It will also add more to your senses to heighten them."_

"_Okay, what's the second thing?"_

"_I don't know," Nelrim said._

"_How do you know the first part?" Naruto asked._

"_I learned it all from Hiraku-sama. She has the most knowledge on it." Nelrim said. "Ask her for further details. I have a feeling she only gave me a light explanation."_

"_How do I activate it?"_

"_That, you must learn on your own."_

_End flashback_

Since then, Naruto has spent time trying to feel out the chakra once more, but he just couldn't reach for it. It was always just beyond his grasp. He could feel it, but not. It was frustrating.

Today was a Sunday. Yesterday, all of his chakra suppression seals, and gravity seals were completely let go, like always on Saturdays, so he could get used to feeling fast and light. It did no good to do all that training, and not be used to it when you finally needed it. He trained on all his katas, even the academy ones. He ran around the village faster then most people could see. Naruto always felt great like this.

And like always, it wore Naruto out. He always needed a day off.

Today, Naruto was walking towards the hot springs, wanting to soothe his aching muscles. Just as he crossed the bridge to get to the springs, he heard a perverted giggle. Naruto wandered of to the left side, the women's side, and peered around the edge.

Sitting there, was a man in a red cloak, grey pants, wooden sandals, and his headband was different. He couldn't see it clearly though. (It's Jiraiya. I'm too lazy to describe him mostly.) Naruto, not for the first time, had an evil idea. He snuck behind the perverted man, and stood exactly 4 feet away from him. Naruto charged some chakra, as discreetly as he could, and launched his fist straight at the man.

The man was promptly blown through the fence, and what made it worse, is that the Dark Togatta clan was having a meeting there. You know what happens next.

Needless to say, the man would have scars on his back for the rest of his life. Naruto was on the sidelines laughing.

When they were close to killing the poor man, Naruto spoke up. "Hey girls, I'll turn him in for you. You can continue your hot springs bath."

"Oh, hey, Naruto-kun." Anko said. "Were you the one who launched him into the fence?"

"I kicked him in when I found him giggling... pervertedly."

Several of the girls made a death glare at the man.

"Okay, we'll let you drag the idiot back to the hokage for us." Anko said. "We were hard on him, but we kind of had to be."

"I know, he was peeking on you." Naruto said.

"Not that, this is Jiraiya of the sannin." Anko said, which got the attention of everyone there. "I wonder why he was in the village? Most of the time, he's maintaining his spy network."

"Wait, wait... you're telling me I snuck up on a sannin? Much more, THE TOAD SANNIN!?" Naruto yelled. He read about the three legendary sannin.

"Yeap, you could always sneak past the ANBU no problem. An old sannin like this man should be nothing." Anko said. "Now, I'm going to get dressed, being only in a towel leaves a nice draft and all, but it's better in clothes." The other girls nodded agreement. "See ya later, Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded. (SEE! SEE! He didn't have a nose bleed, he's not perverted. Take that you perverted Naruto loving freaks.) He went, grabbed the man by his feet, and left to drag the idiot to the hokage.

Naruto dragging the old man across town by one foot got people looking at him weird. Most were wondering why the 'demon' was dragging someone through town, and the ANBU weren't doing a thing.

Naruto walked into the hokage's tower, and up to the secretary. "I have Jiraiya here. He needs to see the Hokage."

The secretary nodded, and told him to go up.

Naruto walked up the stairs slowly, making sure the old man's head hit each and every step along the way. He knocked on the door, and a muffled 'come' was heard through the door.

–

Sarutobi was having a meeting with Kakashi. "Now, tell me why you want to enter your team again in the chuunin exams?"

"The first time was a flunk. I think it would be good for them to try it this time." Kakashi said.

"Alright, I'll let them in. But if Sasuke goes and almost gets his team killed again, I'm pulling him out of the chuunin exams for the next three years." Sarutobi said.

Kakashi nodded in understanding.

A knock was heard at the door. "Come." the man in the red hat said.

Naruto opened the door with Jiraiya in tow.

To say that the hokage was a bit surprised was an understatement. He had been EXPECTING this to happen. Just, not by Naruto.

"Hey, oji-san. I caught a pervert. Can I keep him?" Naruto said jokingly.

Kakashi and Sartuobi chuckled. "No, I'm sorry, we'll have to throw him back out onto the streets."

"Darn." Naruto said jokingly.

"Caught him at the hot springs?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeap. How did you know?"

Sarutobi took a puff of smoke. "He's Jiraiya of the sannin. He's known the world round for two other things. The Toad Sage.... and The Super Pervert."

Naruto looked surprised. "I didn't know that."

"That you were dragging a sannin all the way across the village?"

"No, I knew that. I didn't know he was the super pervert." Naruto looked at the man in disgust a little. "This guy can actually teach me something? I mean, he was pretty easy to sneak up on."

"What do you mean, teach you something?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto looked to the Hokage. The man nodded, giving Naruto the go ahead to discuss something. "In a scroll I got from someone high in the system, it told me to learn the rasengan from the super pervert."

Kakashi looked surprised at this. "Who gave you this scroll?"

Sarutobi broke in at that moment. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Kakashi got the hint to not ask. "So, shall we wake him up?"

"Um, that would be nice, but how? I've dragged him all the way across town, and he didn't wake up."

The hokage chuckled. "Simple." He stood up, and walked over to Jiraiya. He lowered his head to Jiraiya's ear, took a deep breath in. "BOOBIES!"

What happened next, Naruto will never know. All he knew was that the hokage was back at his desk, and Jiraiya was hanging off the ceiling, and somehow, Naruto was as well. The difference between them was that Jiraiya was looking around excitedly for something, and Naruto was in his defensive position for his fox kata. He was crouched on all fours, his coat hanging down from his body. His two tails wagged wildly in the air behind him.

"Stand down, Naruto." the hokage said.

Naruto caught himself, as did Jiraiya.

They both went back down to the floor.

"How did I get here? The last thing I remember, I was researching for my next book, and then I was launched into the hot springs." Jiraiya said.

Sarutobi chuckled. "Naruto happened."

"Naruto?" Jiraiya looked surprised.

The silver haired boy chuckled, "The one and only."

Jiraiya did a double take on the boy. "Fox tails, fox ears, I can understand. Silver hair? What happened to your blond hair?"

Now Naruto was surprised. "How did you know I had blond hair?"

"Because, Uzumaki Naruto, I'm your godfather of course." Jiraiya said.

Naruto passed out.

–

"-uto. Naruto!" a voice yelled out, as Naruto opened his eyes. "Good you're back with us." It was Jiraiya.

Naruto reflexively got out of Jiraiya's hold, and to the other side of the room, behind the Hokage.

"What's wrong Naruto?"

The Hokage didn't turn around. He didn't need to, to know what was going on. Naruto was deep in his mind.

Sarutobi sighed. "He's shocked."

"What? Why? I've visited him a couple times. He knows me already." Jiraiya said.

"Oh yea? How come I don't remember you!" Naruto yelled back.

"I visited you on your third birthday. I trained you some in the arts of stealth in your fourth summer. I even told you I would be back this year to cheer you on in the chuunin exams. How do you not know me?" Jiraiya said.

That stopped Naruto. He tried to think back. "I don't remember that."

Sarutobi sighed. "He suffered from an attack just before he turned five. He suffered from great mental strain, and he couldn't talk for 3 years afterwards."

"Mental strain? You mean he almost died!?" Jiraiya almost yelled out. Kakashi put his hand on the sannin's shoulder to calm him down.

Sarutobi looked down sadly, "Yes."

Jiraiya, seeing that the hokage was in grief over it, knew it wasn't the old man's fault. He had little control over the boy as it was.

Naruto was still wracking his mind for that memory. Now that he thought about it, the man did seem familiar somehow.

"Naruto must have lost some of his memories, due to the great mental strain of the attack."

"What happened exactly?" Jiraiya asked.

"His throat was slit by an ANBU. Of course, as soon as I heard, I immediately had the man dishonorably discharged from ANBU and gave him to Ibiki."

Jiraiya nodded. That was a fate worse then death. From the talks he had with the head of the torture and investigations portion of the ANBU, the man had a liking of the little boy, as Ibiki had raised Naruto the first two years of the orphan's life.

Jiraiya looked down. _'I should've known that Naruto would need my help. But maintaining my spy network had to of been dealt with.'_ He spoke up. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I should have been there for you."

Naruto looked at the man. His faith in the world looked shattered at the way he let his shoulders sag. Naruto knew he could trust the man. He just needed something to help him remember. "Do you remember telling me anything? Like a saying, or a promise?" he blurted out. "I need something to trigger my memories, if I still have them."

Jiraiya smiled, he knew that he had hope in regaining the boy's trust. "I have something better. Come with me."

Jiraiya put his hand on the boy's shoulder, and they shunshin'd away.

Kakashi, who had been silent, asked, "Where did they go?"

Sarutobi smiled peacefully. "The one place where they can talk quietly."

–

A poof of smoke appeared in the middle of a clearing. Naruto looked around, when the smoke cleared.

_Flashback_

_Naruto was running through a field of leaves and flowers. The flowers were always pretty to him._

"_Naruto. Come in for dinner." A man, Jiraiya, yelled from a cabin nearby. The cabin was small, but it could comfortably hold a small family._

"_Alright, Ero-ji-san" Naruto yelled back._

_The man sighed. He would have to break the kid out of that habit. "So," Jiraiya started as they sat down at a table for ramen dinner. "How did you like your stealth training?"_

"_It's great, Ero-ji-san." Naruto smiled. "I moved all the way across town without being noticed by villagers."_

"_That's great, Naruto!" Jiraiya laughed whole heartedly. "Listen, I have to leave town for a few years." Naruto looked sad at that. "Don't worry, work hard, and become a ninja. If you do, I'll come visit you when you enter the chuunin exams."_

_Naruto looked happy. "ALRIGHT! I'll train hard, so I can see you sooner!"_

_Jiraiya smiled, "Now, on to ramen!"_

_And they both dug in._

_End flashback_

Naruto smiled. A true genuine smile. "I remember you now, Ero-ji-san."

At that, Jiraiya face faulted. He had watched the boy take in the small personal training area, meant just for him. It had taken the boy 10 minutes before he came back to reality. It wasn't really the sight that brought the memory back. It was the smell. Smell of the flowers, The old wood, the water fall nearby, and the leaves of the trees in the air. Jiraiya got back up. "Glad to have you back, gaki."

Naruto's smile got broader. "Sorry, for ever doubting you."

"No, it's I who has to be sorry. I should've come back sooner." Jiraiya sad sadly.

"I know how you can make it up to me!" Naruto said.

"Oh, how's that?" Jiraiya said, eager to get on the boy's good side.

"Teach me. You said that you were a seal master. I want to learn fuinjutsu. It's very intriguing what you can do with it. I want to try something, but I need to know more about seals before I can do anything." Naruto said.

"Is that all?" Jiraiya asked, feeling something extra to be asked.

"Nope. I also want to learn this technique called rasengan." Naruto said.

Jiraiya looked surprised. "How do you know about that technique?"

Naruto pondered. "You know what's inside me, right?"

Jiraiya looked sad. "How could I not? I helped Minato himself develop the seal."

Naruto nodded, understanding. They were sensei and student. "It's complicated, but..." Naruto went silent. "She's on her way here now."

"Who is?"

"Just wait."

2 minutes later, a little orange fox with black tips rushed out of the brush, and onto Naruto's shoulder.

"Kina?" Jiraiya said.

"Hello, Jiraiya-kun. Good to see you again."

"H-how are you out of the seal? It was made so that only Minato and I could release you, though only temporarily." Jiraiya said.

Naruto spoke up. "Kami-sama and Yami-sama let her out."

Jiraiya looked ready to piss his pants. "The gods of this realm!?"

"Hai. They set her free, even though her soul and energy still exist inside of me. They also gave me this scroll." Naruto took it out.

"Let me see that." Jiraiya said. Naruto handed it to him, and he opened it. "Hm, interesting. They had you learn many different elemental jutsu. They also gave you a simple gravity seal. It doesn't make you any heavier, but you feel it. What? You signed the fox contract? I guess that sage cloak of yours is real then. Mizu Kanryuu? What the hell is that?" Jiraiya looked at Naruto.

Naruto just shrugged. "I don't know, All I know is that the first step is the most painful thing I ever knew."

Jiraiya nodded, and looked back at the scroll. "'Learn the rasengan from 'the super pervert'.'" Jiraiya nodded. "Yeap, that's me. I'm the only guy alive who goes by that title," Naruto face planted, "and even knows how to use the rasengan." He paused. "Who's Nelrim?"

Naruto deadpanned. "An evil enigma."

"Thats exactly what I am. Thanks for summing it up for the man, lad." Nelrim said as he appeared on Naruto's other shoulder.

"A cat?" Jiraiya asked. "That can talk?"

"I wouldn't ask too many questions. It just gets confusing as we ask more." Naruto deadpanned.

"Alright, I wont. I'll take your word for it." Jiraiya said. "So, you two were training him?"

"Yes, and we still are." Nelrim said.

Jiraiya bowed. "I thank both of you for looking after the boy."

"Don't bow. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for Yami-sama as a favor." Nelrim said.

"Uh, right. Still, thanks." Jiraiya smiled. "So, how are you training him already?"

"Well, currently. He's up to the point balancing. He doesn't seem to get it." Nelrim started.

"Hey! I'm using lots of shadow clones to learn it. It's hard!" Naruto yelled back.

Nelrim continued like he wasn't interrupted. "He's mastered Sage mode. His bloodline has awakened-"

"What?" Jiraiya interrupted.

"Yes he has a bloodline." Nelrim said.

"No, no. I knew he had one. It shouldn't have awakened this soon though." Jiraiya said.

"You knew about it?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, it's in your heritage, from your father's side." Jiraiya said.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew who my parents were?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya got serious. "I can't tell you who he is, until you reach chuunin. Your father made me promise that. What I can tell you is about your mother. I'll tell you after Nelrim here is done."

Naruto nodded, finally able to learn something about his parents. He stayed quiet, and hoped Nelrim would finish faster.

"As I was saying. His bloodline awakened. He has more then a kage in chakra capacity. Almost super kage."

"That's understandable. Though a bit more then I thought it would be."

"We've just recently started him in training fuinjutsu, seventh sense, and Mizu Kanryuu. He still doesn't know about his elemental chakra affinities. So he has yet to begin that. He recently learned a high A rank water jutsu, and has two B ranked wind jutsu in his belt. He has low level jutsu's from all the other elements, and he has learned two of the academy three." Kina said.

"The bushin, he had trouble on, right?" Jiraiya asked, knowingly. Hell he had trouble himself with it.

"Yes, and he learned Kage bushin in it's place. He also knows of the benefit that the clones can give. He's also mastered 100 percent clones even with a mental link." Nelrim said.

"How's his Taijutsu?"

Kina spoke up. "Right now? Mizu Kanryuu wise, he's only just started learning. He's still mastering all of the basic katas. Fox sage mode wise, he's mastered the basic katas, and even started some of the more advanced ones. We've banned him temporarily from using sage mode though."

"Too dangerous?" Jiraiya asked, knowing about his own sage mode.

"No, something unheard of before, has happened in his sage mode. We'll tell you later. Other then that, he knows the academy taijutsu, and only has the upper hand due to the major speed he has, even with the gravity seals. He has major endurance, and can keep up the high speeds for a long time. Without his gravity seals, he can even leave an afterimage behind."

Jiraiya whistled. Leaving behind an afterimage was tough, but you don't move at the speed of light to do it. No, the basics of it is just to move fast, and leave a small trail of chakra behind, holding the light there for a split second.

"How's his genjutsu?" Jiraiya asked.

Nelrim and Kina both deadpanned. "He can do a Perfect Henge. But other then that, it's almost non-existent." Nelrim said.

"How does he do in breaking them?"

Nelrim looked to Kina. Kina spoke up. "In the first years I taught him, I made him learn how to break genjutsu with ease. He has so much chakra, that he can push away any genjutsu through brute force."

Jiraiya nodded. He did the same thing.

Naruto kept quiet, but not do it out of respect, but out of glee. He was finally going to learning something about his parents!

Jiraiya thought for a second. "What times are open for me to train him? Can I have the original? Because the rasengan takes a lot of practice and chakra, even with 100 percent clones they wouldn't have enough for the training."

Nelrim and Kina both looked at each other, and smiled. "Well, he does have the rest of the month off to train for the chuunin exams. Kurenai has given them the go ahead to enter, and even gave them the forms. He can practice in the mornings, while we train him in the afternoons. You can have reading clones for in the afternoon, so he can brush up on fuinjutsu_(Sealing techniques)_."

"Alright, I can live with that." Jiraiya said. "Now, can I have some alone time with the boy? I need to talk with him for a bit."

"Sure." Nelrim said, and they both disappeared. Nelrim just vanished. No smoke, no blur. Just gone. Kina blurred though.

Naruto looked up, being hopeful. "Alright, gaki. I said I would talk about your mom, so get the wax out of your ears. You've got a lot to listen to."

Naruto chuckled, and sat down in the fields. Jiraiya followed.

Jiraiya always loved this field. It always smelled nice. "Alright. Your mom. How to start describing her? Ah, I got it. One word. Tomboy. Uzumaki Kushina was her name. She had red hair that always danced, blue eyes that always held mischief and smiled. Her laugh could bring you out of the most depressing moments." Jiraiya said that last part as if he had personal experience. "She was wild. Out of all the women your father could've picked, he picked the tomboy prank master of the village."

"Wait, Prank master?" Naruto smiled. Already he felt a connection with Kushina. He and Kina had been pranking each other back and forth throughout the months. Hell it got to the point that they had to inspect everything in the home, in hopes of catching the prank before hand. Even the god damned door knob.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Yes, she was often called 'The number one unpredictable knuckle headed ninja.'"

Naruto laughed at that. He had somehow earned his mother's title.

"Yes, Naruto, you got her personality. Put some red hair on your head, and the whole village would shit themselves." Jiraiya said. "Hell, one of the most outstanding part of her, was that she was the head of the dark pointy weapon cult called Togatta."

At that, Naruto stopped. _'Oh, hell no.'_

In heaven

"Oh, hell yes, Naruto."

Back on earth

Jiraiya laughed when he saw the look on the kids face. "Luckily, the cult died many years ago."

Naruto chuckled nervously. "Uh, Ero-ji-san. I hate to break it to you, but the cult is still alive."

"I told you to stop call-... Wait. Who leads it now?"

"Anko-nee-chan." Naruto deadpanned.

"Anko.. as in Mitarashi Anko!?"

"Yea. You know her?"

"Oh god, why am I alive?"

"Huh?"

"You kicked me into their meeting session. Remember?"

Naruto thought back. "Oh, yea."

Jiraiya shivered. "I … I think I'll stay away from the hot springs for a while." Jiraiya said meekly. "And I thought my only threat was Tsunade."

"Tsunade? As in your teammate?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, she hates perverts more then the cult, and she has brute strength to back it up." Jiraiya said.

"Sounds like someone I want to meet." Naruto smiled darkly.

Jiraiya gulped, and went to change the subject. "Back to your mother. There is one thing you absolutely have to know. And it's about both of your parents. I can't stress how much I mean this, so I'll tell you just plain straight. They love you, Naruto. Even in death, I bet Kushina is looking down on you, and watching you at all times. They love you. Not loved. Love. Present tense. They aren't alive, but, and I don't know if I can EVER stress this enough, but they love you. Don't feel alone in the world, Naruto."

At the first sentence, the first word of love, Naruto's usual emotional mask had begun to crack. When Jiraiya finished, Naruto's mask had crumbled into tiny bits, and what was left was a crying Naruto.

Jiraiya pulled Naruto into a hug. "It's okay, Naruto. Let your tears run. I know how much you needed to hear that. Even if it's only for this short period of time, let your feelings run."

–

Hours later, Naruto had stopped crying. He wasn't asleep, or anything, but felt safe in his surrogate's father hold. Jiraiya just continued to hold the boy in his arms.

Naruto slowly got out of Jiraiya's hug. "Thanks, Oji-san." he said, while wiping his eyes of water.

"You feel better now?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes. A lot better. I needed that." Naruto said.

"Don't worry, gaki. If you ever need my help, don't hesitate to kick me in the butt into a hot spring."

At that Naruto chuckled.

"Come on, Naruto. I want to show you something." Jiraiya said.

They walked out of the clearing. A short distance later, they had somehow ended up on top of the fourth hokage's head on the mountain.

"Look, Naruto. Do you remember this sight?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruto looked out to see a sunset off in the distance.

_Flashback_

_Naruto and Jiraiya sat side by side on the fourth hokage's head. The little kid didn't really know why, but he felt safe here. Safe from everything in the world._

"_If you ever need to get away from things, always come here on the hokage mountain. The sunset can put you at ease."_

"_It feels good here." The wind blew in Naruto's face. "I feel safe."_

_Jiraiya chuckled. "So we've sat on all the heads, which one do you like the most?"_

_Naruto smiled. "This one!"_

_Jiraiya made a knowing smile._

End flashback

Naruto instantly moved, and sat down on the Fourth's head. He closed his eyes, and breathed deeply. The wind blew in his face, just like he remembered it. He felt safe, just like all those years ago. A new feeling registered in his mind. The special chakra. He could grasp it now. He could feel it come closer to him, and make him glow with warmth. Another feeling registered to Naruto. The natural energy around him. He could feel it come to him naturally. He didn't need to force the energy to move. Then he felt the yokou come into the mix, and mixed naturally with the other energies. At that, his own chakra seemed to want to mix as well, and he let it flow.

Jiraiya saw the power in the air shift around Naruto. Naruto's body started to glow. At first it was Golden energy, that of the bloodline. Jiraiya knew that. The energy he saw next was white. Completely white. Whiter then snow. He felt Kina's power shift as well. Red yokou energy had also mixed into it, but this time it felt calm, and relaxing. Blue energy, signifying Naruto's normal chakra, started swirling around Naruto as well.

Naruto opened his eyes. He didn't know if it was an illusion, or something, but he saw a blond haired man with a smile across his face look down at him from the clear sky that burned red from the sunset. The smile brought comfort to Naruto, like he's never felt before.

Jiraiya didn't know what was going on, but when Naruto opened his eyes, it was slitted with green pupils with red around the iris. They glowed a with a golden light though. The energy around Naruto suddenly mixed completely with one another, and the power shift felt good. Relaxing. Like this was the most powerful being in existence, but somehow it felt like it would protect him in any way necessary. The energy turned into a completely solid bright silver glow with a golden tint to it. Naruto's hair went from dull silver to a milky white color. Naruto's fur shined a bright silver, and the tips went from white to black.

The man's face disappeared before Naruto's eyes, a smile still adorned on his face. Naruto slowly closed his eyes, and let the energies fall back into their places. _"Too bad, you wont remember this, until the time is right." _A man's voice whispered in the air. The voice sounded soothing to Naruto.

Naruto opened his eyes. They were slightly watered. He smiled, not the genuine smile, not the masked smile. No, this smile showed that he had smiled at his heart, and his soul. He opened his mouth and whispered. "Thanks, dad." And he passed out.

Jiraiya caught the boy, after he whispered something. Jiraiya didn't know what had happened, but whatever it was, it seemed to do some good to Naruto's mind, if the way he smiled during the process had any say in it. Jiraiya picked the teenage boy up, cradle style, and walked to the cabin nearby.

Tbc...

–

That moment on the hokage's head. Mine... mine mine mine mine mine. I created that a long time ago, when I was just starting the series. This is what I've been working up to. This is just a taste of what's to come.

This series started roughly, and I thank all of those who made it this far and have stuck with me. From this point on, you will not be disappointed in how things will turn out.

Next up, the beginning of the chuunin exams, and how this moment will effect Naruto for the rest of his life.

A/N: About that sentence whispered in the air. No, Naruto will still remember this moment. That whisper actually happened, though incomplete, in chapter 9. Figure it out for yourselves.

Comments anyone? Please tell me how it's going.

PM me if you see any mistakes.

To Godo. I know exactly what the bloodline is, but I'm making Hiraku the one to fully explain it. Hope you don't mind that I give it it's own history.

I found him peeking into the fence


	12. Chapter 12: Wait and Chuunin exams

Disclamer: if I owned Naruto... well.. he wouldn't be in an orange coat.. now would he?

Okay.. so I need a vote from all you guys... This pertains to the three year training trip with Jiraiya and Naruto.

There are three choices.

One, Naruto and Jiraiya go on a training trip, and we time skip to the end of it.

Two, Naruto and Jiraiya go on a training trip, and we watch his progress along the trip.

Three, Naruto doesn't go on a training trip with Jiraiya, and he trains at home, but for three years. This will be a time skip.

Each of these choices will not effect what Naruto becomes at the ending of the story, but it will effect some of the path along the way.

For instance, if you pick path three, Naruto will NOT get a second summoning contract, but he will be at his strongest of the three, because he will have mastered Mizu Kanryuu completely. Jiraiya, will sadly, not help Naruto during this time, as he has to take care of his spy network. You will not be able to see how he trains it up. I will have flashbacks to talks about each of the steps, but not in clarity that you'd like it to be.

If you pick path two, I'll have to go up, and type out what happens, and some of the things that happen during the training trip will make sense in later chapters. You will get to see how Naruto masters steps 4 and 5 of Mizu Kanryuu. It will take a bunch of chapters though, as many things happen inside that three years.

Path one... Naruto will be a badass power house, muahahahhaha. And I will not have flashbacks to stuff during his training trip. So you will be confused as to certain stuff until I clarify it. I will be able to jump up the story's progress, and get to Hinata and Naruto being... friendlier... then before. (perverts)

The choices will be up on a poll in my profile.

The reason I'm asking you guys to decide? Well, I just can't choose... each one of them have their upsides and downsides, and I couldn't flip a coin on this one, sooo... well.. here ya go.

Now, on to the fic...

–

Chapter 12: Wait... WHAT!? And chuunin exams.

The hokage was having a great day. It was the day before the chuunin exams, and he managed to defeat his arch enemy, the paperwork today, and he was reading from his icha icha tactics, gold edition. A blush was adorned on his face, and he giggled pervertedly.

A monster named 'fluffy' died somewhere. (this will be an omake at the end)

Just as Sarutobi was going to flip a page, the hokage quickly shut the book, noting the page, and turned to look like he was doing work.

Two seconds later, Naruto, followed by two girls walked into the room.

Sarutobi smiled, _'hehehe, no one will ever know.' _"Hello, Naruto. I haven't seen you around for a month."

"Hai! I was training with Jiraiya at a stop designated just for me by my father." Naruto said. A gleem was in his eyes. "Oji-san... have you been reading smut?"

Sarutobi's eyes widened. He quickly felt his nose, and sure enough, a little bit of blood was coming down it. _'Drat...'_ He sighed, and quickly looked for a way to change the subject. "Naruto, who are these two girls?"

The two girls that walked in were twins. Both of them had dull grey hair that was tied into a braid that went to their feet, but didn't touch the floor. They were shorter then Naruto by about 2 inches. They were small and child like. Almost no development of breast could be seen, except for the fact that they were wearing skin tight black ANBU clothing that covered EVERYTHING from their neck down. Even their hands and feet. They had no baby fat in their cheeks, but otherwise, they looked like 8 year old girls. Their eyes, though, was very different. They were slitted, red around the iris, and faded to green going out to the edges of the pupil.

Naruto chuckled nervously. "Yea, a long story about that."

Sarutobi thought for a second, "I have time. And I would like to hear how you trained in the last month as well. Jiraiya always refused to talk about it, saying 'it's a secret' every time."

Naruto nodded. "Uh, could I have a seat?"

"Oh, sorry about that." Sarutobi said. He waved his hand over a seal on his desk, and a chair popped into existence behind Naruto. It was a comfy chair. The girls also got chairs, and they sat down. _'Thank god Minato put these seals in.'_

"Okay, where to start. Ah I know, the first day," Naruto started

–

Naruto has already told about the hokage first day, when he and Jiraiya had talked about his parents. We're skipping to day two.

Flashback (It's not going to be italicized.)

Naruto fluttered his eyes open. The last thing he remembers was seeing a man's face in a sun burned sky. He slowly got up, and took in his surroundings. The world seemed so much more focused then he was used to, a lot more real.

He remembered the power he had felt when the powers merged like that. He felt so calm, so peaceful.

"Hey, gaki." Jiraiya said, as he walked into the small cabin.

The cabin was basically three rooms. A bedroom, a living room tied into a kitchen, and a bathroom. The living room had access to the outside and the other two rooms. The bedroom and bathroom were side-by-side, but didn't have a door to each other.

Naruto was currently sitting on the couch in the living room.

"Hello, Ero-ji-san."

Jiraiya face faulted. "Gaki, could you stop calling me that?"

"Only if you stop being perverted."

"I told you, I'm not a pervert. I'm a super pervert!" Jiraiya said in a hero pose.

Now it was Naruto's turn to face fault. _'Who would be proud of that?'_ (the author sneezes)

"Anyways, gaki." Jiraiya said. "Do you remember what happened last night?"

Naruto looks down, and closes his eyes. "I felt calm, safe. I don't really know what happened last night. But I do remember one thing. It was burned into my mind, and whenever I close my eyes I see it. A man's face. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and a smile. That smile... when I saw it, I felt the safest I've ever been. I felt calm and collected, and I felt that I could do anything when I saw that calm smile." He opened his eyes, and looked back up, straight into Jiraiya's eyes. "Who.. who was he?"

Jiraiya got a saddened look on his face. "From the way you described him, it was your father."

Naruto looked surprised. "M-my father? But.. how did I see him there?"

"That place was special for your father. Hell, he used to sit on Sarutobi's head, too. But he loved to sit on the fourth's head a lot." Which wasn't a lie. Once Minato got his own head, he would love to sit on it, and feel the whole world.

Naruto got teary eyed, but he fought them back. "Jiraiya, I'm going to make a vow, right here and now."

Jiraiya looked at Naruto seriously. The way Naruto put that sentence, it wasn't going to be something soft.

"I vow, here and now, to train so hard that my parents would be able to look me in the eye and say, 'I'm proud of you.' when I finally meet them." Naruto fought back more tears. "And one more thing. No matter what's thrown at me, no matter what happens, I will stand for the will of fire. I _will_ become hokage." Naruto had said that for years, but this time he had put so much spirit to it, that he felt something inside of him change.

Jiraiya nodded, he felt he had to add something to it. "Do you Naruto swear into this nindo. Do you make it your ninja way?"

Naruto nodded.

"Then, from this day forward, we," at that point Nelrim showed up on Jiraiya's shoulder, along with Kina, "will make you into the most powerful ninja in the village. No. the whole known world." Jiraiya said. _'I may have failed with my past apprentice, but I WILL not fail on this one.'_ "And, Naruto. One final thing. No matter what you do from here on out, your parents will always be proud of you."

Naruto's smile came back. The one from last night. He felt calm, cool, collected. He wasn't a hyperactive kid anymore. He was going to show the whole village that he could protect them, and in turn earn their trust.

Nelrim took his turn now, "The trials ahead of you, in the next step of Mizu Kanryuu is tougher then before. You might die learning this next step. Do you still wish to take the challenge?"

Naruto's smile did not disappear. "I will. I will take whatever comes at me, and stand right back up."

Nelrim nodded. "You will start step three today, then."

Jiraiya spoke up. "You will also start learning advanced fuijutsu, and the rasengan as well."

Kina added in her two cents. "You will also be taught advanced stealth techniques, advanced speed training, strength training, and advance from point balancing to waterfall walking. I will add in Sage training as well if you have the energy." Kina paused. "Are you ready for the hardest month of your life yet?"

Naruto slowly nodded. "Yes, I already said so before. I will not back down."

A feral smile appeared on all three faces. "Then let us begin, the first week of hell."

Naruto certainly thought that the oncoming week was hell.

End flashback

"That's what happened on the second day." Naruto said.

"That still doesn't explain these two." Sarutobi said.

"I'm getting to that."

Flashback

About three days before the visit to the hokage. The sun was setting for the day.

Naruto had advanced from point balancing to waterfall walking in chakra control exercises. Naruto nearly pounded his own head in when he finally figured out the point to it. He had to make a tiny sphere of chakra under his feet, and on his hands. The point of the exercise was to limit the chakra down to such a point that barely a trickle was let out. After that, it was quite easy. The smaller the amount, the less he had to focus on it.

Naruto was in the field practicing balancing energies inside of himself. It was what was required of waterfall walking. He's already figured out how to do this one, but it was aggravating. He had to create a small cloud of chakra that would grab the water, and push it backwards with his feet. This, of course, increased the speed of the water going down, but this would act like an anchor, and be able to push up with each foot. Too much, and the water would be pushed away. Too little, and he couldn't make an anchor.

He needed to be able to balance the energy inside of him to do it, though. If he didn't make just the right amount of chakra, he would fall and get himself wet. Not that it mattered. He was only in a bathing suit.

An idea hit him. _'What if I created clones using the different types of chakra?'_

Naruto smiled. He would do the waterfall walking when he was less aggravated.

Naruto, once more, concentrated, but this time it was easy. He gathered the natural energy in the air. Ever since that day on the fourth's head, he found it very easy to gather the energy.

Once he entered into sage mode(1), he made a simple clone out of the energy. He found that the clone was also in sage mode. He popped the 100 percent, and released sage mode.

Naruto once more gathered energy, this time, yokou. He created the clone out of pure yokou. He found he added too much, as the smoke popped out. This clone was different. Since it was made out of pure yokou, it turned into Kina, in human form. She had a young body, dark red hair, and blazing red eyes. She was dressed in a blazing orange and white kimono. She had nothing for her feet, and no accessories.

"Naruto? How did you make a clone out of me?" Kina said as she looked at herself. She was completely human, not hanyou. "Wow, this feels nice. Now, can you tell me how you did that?"

"I made a clone out of pure yokou... yours." Naruto said.

"Hmm... dispel me, I want to see something." she said.

Naruto nodded, and the clone disappeared. Kina showed up minutes later. "Wow, that was different. Do it again!"

Naruto nodded, and created another clone of Kina. "Wow, it works." she giggled a little, "This is fun! I've never had a human form before." and it dispelled itself this time.

Kina got the memories. "Wow, now I know how you feel once you get the memories."

"Yea, it stings a little, huh?" Naruto said.

Kina nodded. "Well, now. You don't need to summon me mentally anymore. You can just make a clone. What were you doing?"

"Well, I was experimenting. I got an idea of what would happen if I made clones out of the different energies." Naruto said.

"Okay, what have you yet to try?"

"The special chakra." Naruto said.

"Well, pull it out, and let's see what happens."

Naruto nodded. He gathered the special chakra, and made a clone out of it. Again, he overestimated the amount needed, and this clone poofed as well.

This clone was different as well. It had long blond hair, blazing deep blue eyes. It didn't have any whisker marks on it's face. The clone, being male, also had a blazing golden aura around it's body.

"Cool." The clone said.

"Dispel yourself." Naruto said.

"Right, boss." The clone said.

The clone felt light. Not as in the feather weight light, the other light. As in warmth rush through his body.

Kina got a bright idea. "Hey, Naruto. Try making a clone out of all four of the energies you have."

Naruto nodded, and sat down to gather chakra. As soon as he had enough, he went to create a clone.

When the smoke cleared, not one, but two female girls showed up. (They are the ones at the top of this chapter, except that they were wearing what Naruto was wearing. Instead of braided, they had long flowing hair though.)

"Wow, they look cool." Naruto said.

"Indeed."

"Hey, what do you feel?" Naruto said. The two clones looked at Naruto and... just looked. They didn't even opened their mouths. "Hello?" Naruto said. "Can you understand me?" that got a reaction. They smiled and nodded.

"Well, it seems they can't talk." Kina said. Again, they nodded.

"You know everything I know, right?" Naruto said.

They nodded. "Okay, that means you have my memories, not Kina's right?"

They nodded. "So why did you turn into girls?"

"It must have been my energy that did so." Kina said. "Dispel yourselves."

They looked at her. "Well? Are you going to do so?"

They shook their heads.

"Why not?"

They shrugged their shoulders.

"So, let me get this right." Kina said. "You can't dispel yourselves?"

They nodded.

Kina and Naruto looked at each other. "So, what do we do?" Naruto asks. "I can't seem to dispel them either."

"We could try hitting them, until they dispel." Kina said.

"Okay." Naruto walked up to them. "You ready?"

They nodded, and closed their eyes. He hit them with enough power to dispel a 100 percent clone. The two girls were flown back, and destroyed several trees. They both got back up, healing themselves.

Naruto went to punch them again, when Kina stopped him. "Wait." he stopped. "I can sense their chakra and yokou. They have their own chakra coils."

"So, they're alive?" Naruto asked. Clones never had chakra coils, simply because they weren't alive. The reason being that they were just made of chakra. Even the 100 percent clones, even though they had organs and everything, were just pure chakra, and had a time limit. If these clones had chakra coils in them, then essentially, they had a spirit in them, and a real body.

Kina shook her head. "No, they aren't, but it seems that they can build up chakra. Call your two clones back here."

All of a sudden, they were next to Naruto. He didn't even make a command. "How the?"

"Wait." Kina said. "How did you two know to come back? You two were knocked very far out of hearing range."

They pointed at Naruto, then at their own heads.

"You have a mental connection with him?" They nodded. "Naruto, do you see what they see?"

"No." he paused. "Wait, I'll think of a yes or no question, please answer it." Naruto said.

A moment past, and they both shook their heads.

"What did you ask them?" Kina asked.

"'Do you think Kina is a boy?'" Naruto said.

"Well, that wasn't very nice." Kina said, crossed.

"Hey, had to ask a different question then normal." Naruto said. "So, you can see everything I can?"

They nodded. "All the other senses as well?"

They nodded again.

Kina suddenly looked at Naruto. "Hey, Naruto. Didn't you build up your chakra faster then normal?"

"I don't know. Isn't it always fast?" Naruto asked.

Kina thought for a moment. "Girls, do you feel like you're giving Naruto energy?"

They nodded.

Kina smiled wildly for a moment. "Hey girls, since you seem to be sending him chakra, try to send him some natural energy."

They nodded, and sat down. They began focusing, and soon Naruto felt the 'oh, so warm' feeling that always encompassed sage mode.

Kina went wide eyed. "Wow, now that seems highly convenient." Kina said. "I wonder why these clones ended up like this?"

"Maybe, I don't know, but maybe that's because it had all the energy types out their, I created a human body so close, and you know every clone uses a piece of your soul. Since I used two pieces from me, mind and body, a piece of nature, and a piece from you, that this happened." Naruto said.

"Good speculation. Well, then again, it might be for a different reason." Kina said. "Who knows except for Kami herself?" One of the clones grinned at that.

Naruto nodded. He turned back to the clones. "What should we name them?"

"Good point, and we can't just call them clones." Kina paused. She looked at the one at the right. "You'll be Uzu." she looked at the other one. "And you'll be Kasai. And your surname shall be Kitsune. Since you're related, energy wise, to both of us."

They both nodded, liking the names.

"What do you think Nelrim will think of this?" Naruto asked.

"I don't really know what to say." Nelrim said, as he appeared on Naruto's shoulder. "But I forbid you from using that technique again, until we find out whether or not they are real, or clone."

"Why's that?" Naruto asked.

"Well, if they actually need to eat, unlike a clone, then they will be mouths to feed. And we can't have a hundred of these suddenly pop out of nowhere." Nelrim said.

Naruto nodded, understanding.

Nelrim looked to the girls, and smiled. "Well, since they don't actually exist, how about we make them so?" Suddenly, two sets of ANBU clothes popped out of nowhere. "You'll be Naruto's personal shadows. As the hokage has ANBU shadows, so shall you, Naruto. And since they can transfer energy, they will be your way of getting natural energy. Hell, we already know that you have long distance with it." Long ago, they had a clone go as far as they could from Konoha. It ended up at Iwa's borders, and Naruto could still see through it no problem.

Somewhere in ANBU headquarters.

"Hey, who stole my clothes?" a girl asked. "Cat, did you do it again?"

"Maaaaaaybe." Cat smiled behind her mask. She actually didn't, but she loved to tease.

Back with Naruto and gang

Naruto looked sad. "But I already have a way of getting natural energy in a battle." He focused chakra into his arms, and several seals appeared on each arm. About 10 each. "9 seals on each arm, making a total of 18 minutes of natural energy." The last seal on each arm was one of the gravity seals.

Nelrim smiled. "You can use them if you need to, but if you don't then let these girls be your transfer. Hell, it still takes a while for them to grab the energy, just use one seal, and then let them give you the rest for the duration of the sage mode."

Naruto smiled. He turned back to the girls, and they nodded. They grabbed the clothes, and left to dress. They knew that having a different gender would be quite... tough. Kina left with them to help them out. She felt they needed to add something to it.

After a few minutes, the girls came back. They had braided their hair, and slipped into the ANBU suits.

"Now all we need is fox masks." Nelrim said, then sighed. "Sadly, no matter where I look, no fox mask exists."

Naruto smiled, "Maybe the hokage has a couple of masks."

"Let's ask him the day before finals." Nelrim said. "Now get back to waterfall walking, or I'll beef up the strength training."

Naruto went wide eyed, and went back to concentrating.

"Now, you two." Nelrim said. "With me. I'm going to teach you two in hiding techniques, since it's one of the things ANBU are supposed to learn anyways."

They nodded, and left with Nelrim.

End flashback

When Naruto finished speaking, the hokage took in a deep breath. Naruto had told him about the whole month of training, and the hokage knew there was going to be trouble when it seemed the two would never pop away. _'They eat, drink, and even need to use the bathroom.' _he thought as Naruto told about that part.

A puff of smoke left the hokage's mouth. "That's quite a tale." He paused. "Alright, yes I do have fox masks hidden away. Ever since Kyuubi attack Konoha, no one seems to want to use them." He went over to a storage closet that was in his office. He went to the back of the room, and unsealed a chest. He rummaged around it for a bit, and then came back out of the room, and sealed the door. "Here." They were pure black ANBU masks with a Knonha leaf symbol on the forehead. "I think it would be best, since they don't need to be seen. _Ever."_ He added in tone. "These two will be the ghosts among ghosts. Jiraiya can teach them how to hide better then Nelrim can, as he was an ANBU squad leader at one point."

The three nodded, and the two girls donned the black masks. It stuck to their face.

"Now, since it seems you two can't talk, we'll give you sign language. You can talk using that, and it's not using ANBU hand signs. Hell, you can even make your own signs that would work only for you." the hokage pulled out an old dusty scroll, and gave it to the girls. "No one uses it anymore, anyways."

The two nodded, and gratefully took the scroll.

"Alright you two, one more thing. Since I have given you ANBU masks, you will obey my orders like any other ANBU would." Sarutobi said.

The two nodded once more, and looked to Naruto. "Don't worry, your main commander is still him, but I'm in second command. Got it? You can even do missions for ANBU, if you pass my test. I have to tell you though, those missions can be painful to your body, mind, and soul."

The two thought it over for a minute, and looked to Naruto.

"Hey, it's your own decision." he said.

The two then looked back at the hokage, and shook their heads. "Alright then. You two will still need to pass a hiding test. It'll be very hard though, but I bet you two can do it. Hell, the original can sneak past an ANBU. If you two actually train hard enough, you'll probably get past me, no problem."

At that, Naruto snickered a little. The twins smiled behind the masks.

"Alright, hide right now, and become Naruto's shadows." The two nodded, and disappeared from sight. "Not bad." He looked back to Naruto. "Naruto, one last question."

"Yea, Oji-san?"

"What about this.. Mizu Kanryuu... step 3?" Hokage asked, as he went over his memories. Naruto didn't talk about that in particular.

Naruto smiled. "That, my old man, is a secret to be shown on the day of the finals a month from now."

Sarutobi smiled and nodded. "I can't wait to see it then. Is step three finished?"

"No, I'm still working on it, which is why I said the chuunin exam finals." Naruto said.

He nodded. "I wish you luck with it then. Is that all you needed?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yeah, see you later, Oji-san." Naruto said. And left out the door.

"You never cease to amaze me, Naruto." he said.

–

Naruto was walking around aimlessly. He had just eaten ramen, and he had several hours to burn before he had to do anything.

He was walking around, until he saw that Sakura was chasing down Konohamaru.

"What did the kid do this time?" he asked, as he chased the two down. As he rounded a corner, he stopped when he saw that the kid was being help in the air by a make up wearing suna nin.

"Put me down, you baka!" Konohamaru said.

"That hurt you little brat! I'm going to teach you some manners." he said, as he raised his fist.

"Kankuro, don't do it. He might be nearby." the female suna nin said.

"Don't worry. He's not around, and this will only take a minute." Just as it was about to come down, a hand had wrapped itself around his wrist. "Who, the hell are you!?" The nin asked.

"Put the kid down before I break your wrist." Naruto said calmly.

"Kankuro." a monotone voice called out. The two suna nins froze. "You're a disgrace to us all."

"H-hey there Gaara." Kankuro said. "I-I was just teach-"

"Shut it." Gaara said, before he looked at Naruto. "Who are you?" He had seen Naruto move. It was faster then Gaara could keep up.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. What's yours?" Naruto asked, as he let the Kankuro go.

"Sabaku no Gaara." The red haired boy in the tree answered.

Naruto got a weird feeling from Gaara. He suddenly remembered something.

_'Beware of number 1. He's bloodthirsty.'_ The warning Fu had given him.

He could definitely feel bloodthirsty hidden inside the boy. Naruto quickly gathered yokou. A cloud puffed up near Naruto. "What's up Naruto?" Kina asked in her human form.

"Him," he pointed to Gaara.

Kina looked to the boy. She gasped. _'The rings around his eyes. Insomnia. Blood lust coming from inside.'_ "You guessed right, Naruto. That's number 1."

"Right, go ahead and dispel. I want to talk to him." Naruto said.

Kina nodded, and disappeared.

"What was that about?" The girl asked.

Naruto looked to her. "Oh, hi. May I ask your name as well?"

"Sure... it's Sabaku no Temari." She said.

"Okay, Temari-san. May I borrow your brother for a bit?"

"Kankuro?" she asked.

Naruto looked to the paint wearing freak. "This guy is your brother as well?"

She nodded.

"Wow," naruto said. "You have a face painted clown or mime for a brother?"

She nodded with a sad look on her face.

"HEY!" Kankuro said.

Naruto looked back up to Gaara. "I need to talk to you for a bit. Do you mind?"

"No. I wanted to ask you something as well." Gaara said.

"Right, follow me." Naruto said, and dashed off.

Sakura walked up, and helped Konohamaru up. "You okay, brat?"

"Yea, sure." The kid responded.

She looked to the two remaining suna nins. "Can either of you explain what just happened to me?"

They both shook their heads no.

"Right."

–

Training ground 13.

"Ah, the old training ground 13. Haven't been here in a month." Naruto said. "Well let's cut to the chase."

Gaara just starred at Naruto, trying to figure out why his demon was sniveling in a corner rather then calling for blood.

"Hello, number 1. I'm number 9." Naruto said.

_'Number 1? Wait, I'm the jinchuuriki of...'_ His eyes widened. "Yo... you're the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune?"

"Exactly. And you're the jinchuuriki of Ichibi no Shukaku." Naruto said.

"Correct." Gaara said. "Now, can you tell me why Ichibi no Shukaku is shivering in fear? He wont answer me."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "I have no clue."

"It's probably because of me." Nelrim said, as he appeared on Naruto's shoulder.

"You know, could you stop appearing on my shoulder?" Naruto asked.

"No, because I love this shoulder. It's nice and comfy. Now, where were we?" Nelrim asked. "Oh yes, scaring the shit out of Ichibi. Or should I say Herald."

"Herald?" both jinchuuriki asked

Nelrim laughed. "Ichibi is the name of priest that was sealed into the demon. The priest, who was a bloodthirsty scoundrel, then made Herald go crazy. Hence, why he was sealed away. It was a sad day indeed. Ichibi attempted to become completely immortal. In the process, he became completely insane." Nelrim paused. "Never ask for immortality. You might regret it." He had sad eyes when he said that.

"What... nevermind, we probably don't want to know..." Naruto said.

Gaara spoke up, "Can you tell me why 'mother' is acting so... differently?"

"Oh, it's simple really. My roommate is the one who forced Ichibi into Herald. The side effects weren't what we hoped for." Nelrim said. "And then he stuffed Herald into a ceremonial teapot. He gave it away to the wind country."

"So, he's scared because your roommate was the one who put him in a teapot?" Gaara asked.

Nelrim shook his head. "No, he's probably scared because of what I am."

Naruto tried to stop Gaara, but he spoke anyways. "What are you?"

Nelrim made an EVIL smile. See ? That it was all capital there. Yea, that's the upgraded form of Evil, which is a step above evil.

The air around them all got colder. Naruto and Gaara froze. They felt hollow inside. If they moved one tiny bit, they would break.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Nelrim said. When neither could breath, much less open their answer, Nelrim responded, "Okay, then. I guess you don't." And the air got normal once more. Gaara and Naruto dropped to the ground gasping for breath.

"I tried to stop you, but noooo you still had to ask him." Naruto said. "Listen Gaara. You might be a badass, but that cat there is more powerful then you could ever imagine."

Gaara coughed once. "I'll take your word for it." He stood up. "I'm going now." He turned to walk away.

"I assume you'll be in the chuunin exams?" Naruto said.

Gaara didn't turn back. "Yes. And Uzumaki Naruto, I want to fight you and kill you to prove my existence."

Naruto grinned. "Go ahead and try."

–

The next day.

Hinata and Shino were standing outside the academy.

"Where's Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. "We only have half an hour left."

She hadn't seen Naruto in over a month, and she was getting anxious to see him again.

"He'll be here." Shino said.

"These past months have been weird, haven't they?" Hinata asked.

"Quite. Did you hear about the ANBU headquarters getting painted pink?" Shino asked.

"Yea, that was weird. Or how about the time that the hokage tower got painted orange." Hinata asked.

"Weird times... weird times indeed." Shino said.

Naruto turned around the corner, and started walking up to the two.

"Hey, you two." Naruto said.

Hinata's first thought after seeing Naruto was, _'Is it just me, or does he seem calmer, and more collected then normal.'_

Shino's First thought. _'Naruto seems different. My bugs are even calmer then normal around him.'_

The first Action Shino took, was count down with his fingers. First three, then two. BAM! Then one.

Before Shino made one finger, Hinata had pounced Naruto. It was getting to be a normal thing, ever since Naruto got his black trench coat with the kanji for sage on the back.

Naruto chuckled. "I missed you, too, Hinata-chan." He tickled the girl off, as it was the only thing he could do to get her off. He got back up, and brushed his coat off, and gave a hand to Hinata to help her up. He looked to Shino. "Hey, Shino. How's everything going?"

"It's great. Ever since you gave me that taijutsu training scroll, I've been training in it to cover up my one weakness." he said. It was true. About three months ago, Naruto was kind of down for leaving Shino out of the advanced training. To make up for it, he tried to think of a way to help Shino. After a bit of pondering, and asking Kina, he finally got an idea, and gave a taijutsu scroll he got from the Mini-Gai.

"Cool. That means we've all gotten stronger." Naruto said.

Shino nodded his head. "Indeed we have, Naruto. It is logical to assume that we all have a fair chance, if we stick together. Me with my long range attacks. Hinata with her short range."

"And me with my medium range attacks." Naruto added in.

Shino nodded. "Now, we should all head into the building. We are almost at our deadline."

Naruto and Hinata nodded.

"By the way, Naruto-kun. Where's Kina?" she asked.

"Well, she decided not to come for the first portion, and she'll meet me at the second portion of the exams." Naruto said.

"Why did she do that?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know, she said something about not wanting to be bored to death for an hour." Naruto said.

The other two just shrugged, and went into the building. They walked up the first set of stairs. When they got to the second floor, a group of gennin were standing around a door, and two other gennin were blocking it. The room had 301 on it.

"Shino, catch me if I'm wrong, but are we on the second floor?" Naruto asked.

"Yes we are. It's obviously a genjutsu used to weed out lowbies. Let's just walk past these teams, and get to the third floor." Shino said.

They all nodded, and walked right past them.

Behind them, Team 7 were walking up as well. "Hey, drop that genjutsu." Sasuke yelled out. "This is obviously not room 301, and Sakura here can vouch for that, as she's our genjutsu specialist. Isn't that right, Sakura?"

Sakura couldn't help but smile, as she was getting attention. "Yes, Sasuke-kun."

Team 8 just sweat dropped. Sasuke just screwed up big time, but it wasn't for them to deal with, and they continued to walk up the stairs, to room 301.

"Hey, you three." Kurenai said, as she was standing by the door. "I'm glad you all made it. Now get in there, and show them not to mess with team 8."

They nodded, and went into the room.

When the door closed behind them, they felt Killer Intent rain down upon them from the other gennin.

Naruto just said, "Fuck off. I'm not scared of you all." That got all the attention off of his teammates, and onto him. He just smiled. _'Manipulation. Works like a charm. Got to thank Nelrim for that later.'_ The reason he needed to do this, was because he didn't like anyone glaring at his teammates, and since he was used to it, he used himself to get the killer intent off of them.

They walked over to a corner of the room that wasn't occupied, and occupied it. Naruto sitting down, and Hinata and Shino sat next tom him on his right and left, respectively.

Team Gai walked in after that, and found a spot to sit down.

Team 7 walked in right after them. Sasuke looked a little bruised.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino yelled out, as she glomped the emo from behind.

"INO-PIG! Get off of Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled out.

"SHUT IT! BILL-BOARD BROW!" Ino yelled back. Sasuke had to plug his ear.

"Well, it seems like were all here. All 9 of the rookies this year." Shimaru said.

"9? I only see 6 of us. I bet that team 8 chickened out, since they had the dobe on their team." Kiba said.

Shiamaru only smiled, and pointed to them. "They're over there. Troublesome dogs."

"Hey, I heard that!" Kiba said.

The rest of them looked over to Naruto. They were surprised to see him dressed in a lot of black. And Naruto's face had a hood over it, making it hard to see his face. Next was Hinata. Instead of her normal coat, she had on a long light blue coat, and a hood as well. Shino had his normal attire, but a hood went over his head, too.

All in all, you couldn't see their face very well.

"What's up with the hoods?" Kiba asked. "I mean, I've seen Aburame around with hoods, but I didn't know hyuuga did it."

"Hey, you guys. You're rookies, aren't you?" a silver haired teenager with glasses said, as he walked up.

The 6 look to him. "How can you tell?"

"Well, you're creating quite a scene. Very much like rookies." the teenage said.

_'I smell a snake.'_ Naruto thought. _'And it's coming from that silver haired guy.'_

"You look like you're experienced, third time in?" Sasuke asked.

"Actually, seventh, and my name is Kabuto, nice to meet you." Kabuto chuckled nervously.

Kiba laughed. "You must be weak then."

"No, I was unprepared those times. Now I have plenty of info on everyone." he said. He pulled out a deck of cards. "Here I'll show you." He placed a single card down on the ground, and channeled chakra into it. "This card shows you how many ninja from each country are joining the chuunin exams." he said as an image appeared. "40 Iwa, 20 Kiri, 36 Kumo, and 44 Konoha. There are some from small time villages, like the sound, since they are new, or not powerful enough."

Sasuke looked at it for a moment. "Do you have info on individual ninja?"

"Yes, give me a description, and I'll pop it right up." Kabuto said.

"Lee Rock and Hyuuga Neji." Sasuke said.

Shikamaru spoke up. "Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata."

"Why do you want to know about them?" Sakura asked. "They're weaklings."

Shikamaru just shrugged. But mentally he thought, _'I'm getting a strange vibe from them.'_

Said individuals tensed up. If he had accurate info, then they would be in trouble.

"Awh, you know their names. That's no fun." He said as he took out a card. "First off, Hyuuga Neji. Age 15. Teammates, Lee Rock and Tenten Higurashi. Known skills high level of the Hyuuga taijutsu, Jyuuken. No other known skills. Missions – 100 D ranked, 13 C ranked, and 2 B ranked. Quite impressive for a gennin team." He pulled out another card. "Next up, Lee Rock. Teamates already said, Ah here we go. High level of Taijutsu. No other known skills." He pulled out another card. "Next up, Hyuuga Hinata. That's strange. She's a hyuuga, but she doesn't have a high level Jyuuken."

At that, Neji just scoffed.

"All the rest of it for skills is that it says she's a sage. Of what contract, no one knows. Teammates are Aburame Shino, and Uzumaki Naruto. Team missions – 120 D ranked." a lot of people whistled. "5 C ranked and one C ranked turn A ranked joint mission with team 7." Now plenty of the group looked startled.

Ino just said, "I bet most of the work was down by Sasuke-kun." she swooned.

Sasuke just 'hn'd and looked back to Kabuto.

"Lastly, Uzumaki Naruto." When he put down the card, Kabuto gasped. "What the?"

"Something wrong?" Kiba asked.

"Yes. It doesn't talk about ninjutsu he knows or taijutsu he's learned. Hell, all it says is that he's got a sage cloak on, which tells people he's a sage. But of what contract no one knows."

The rest of the group, except Shikamaru, looked confused. Finally, Sasuke asked. "What's a Sage? And what do you mean by contract?"

"Well, let's look at that card." He pulled out a card. "Ah, here it is. Sage. Requirements, has a contract with an animal summoning clan and the approval of the clan head." he paused. "To sum up what it says, learning sage mode is incredibly dangerous, as adverse side effects can happen. Some even include death. To become a Sage is a great feat."

The group looked to them. Sasuke said. "They don't look anymore powerful."

"The next part of this card says that they need to gather up natural energy to use sage mode. That means they need to sit still." Kabuto said. "For how long, no one knows."

They all smirked. _'Yea, they can't use it if we attack them.'_ All but Shikamaru.

_'I don't like this.'_ Shikamaru thought.

Suddenly, a couple of sound nin rushed at Kabuto. Kabuto moved to dodge the punch thrown at him, but a second later, he keeled over, and his glasses broke.

Team 8 analyzed what just happened, and stored it away for later. The stupid sound nin just used a trump card in front of them all.

"Put this in your stupid cards. The sound gennin WILL become chuunin in this exam." The leader said.

Sakura walked up. "Kabuto-san. You okay?"

"Yea. I'm fine." Kabuto said, as he stood up.

A puff of smoke, saying it was a shunshin, appeared at the front desk. "Alright you brats. Shit down and shut up. I'll be your proctor for the first exam, my name is Morino Ibiki." Naruto shivered. "And you sound shinobi. Do that again without permission, and you're out!"

"Sorry about that, Proctor-san. We understand." the leader said, and backed down.

"Alright, will everyone turn in their forms for the first test to this guy on my right." He pointed to the chuunin. "He will take it, and give you a number. You will be seated randomly. The first test is a written exam."

At that, Naruto started to sweat.

"Now line up, sit down, and shut up until all of you are seated." Ibiki said.

It took only a few minutes, but after that it was done.

Naruto was in the middle, with Hinata towards the back, and Shino was off to the left in the front.

"Now, I shall explain the rules." Ibiki said. "Listen carefully, as I will only explain it once."

_'Wait, rules?'_ Naruto thought.

"First. Each person will be given 10 points. Since there are 10 questions on the exam, each question wrong is minus one point. Your entire team must have one point each in order to pass." Ibiki paused. "If you are caught cheating, 2 points will be deducted from your entire score, once you reach zero, you will fail, and your team with you. At the final question, you will be given verbally, after we add in some more rules."

Naruto caught one part specifically. _'Wait, whenever I cheated in the academy, they just threw me out of the class, and gave me a zero... what if...'_ and a smile crossed Naruto's face.

Hinata, in the back of the class saw Naruto's mood shift. _'Looks like he caught it as well. Oh, Naruto-kun, I knew you had brains.'_

"Alright, BEGIN!" Ibiki announced, and they all flipped their papers over.

_'Alright, I only need one question to pass.'_

When he looked at them, they were questions he didn't know answers, too, but he wasn't worried. Someone in here had to know an answer. He pulled out a small inscribing pen, and quickly started making a seal on the paper.

Naruto had come to love fuinjutsu. Hell, there were times they couldn't get him away from the books, as the ideas alone kept him going.

The current seal he was making, was a three part array. One part to shift the ink used to make the seals into the answer. Second part was to push chakra into the other two seals. And the last part, was to tell how the ink was to shift, mimicking an answer from far away. Once he was done with most of the seal, he looked up, and looked around. He saw Sakura, she was busy writing down answers.

_'Time to finally make you useful, Sakura-san.'_ Naruto thought, and finished off the seal to make the location of copying. He had to be precise though. If he was off by even a little, he would fail the technique, and it would blow up in his face.

Something that Naruto got way better at, due to his dodging training. He could easily judge how far away something was, and time it perfectly.

Once the seal was finished, he pushed a little chakra into the middle seal, and let the ink form. After he was done, Naruto put away his inscribing pen, and sat back.

A kunai flew right by his ear.

"Number 53. You lost all your points." Ibiki said.

"Numbers 132, 13. You're disqualified as well." a chuunin called out.

_'Heesh, could they be any closer to my ear?'_ Naruto thought.

Time passed, and Ibiki called out, "Alright, you maggots. Put your pencils down, it's time for the final question. As I said before, there are more rules."

_'What's with all the rules?'_ a lot of people thought.

"First, you may choose whether or not to take this question. If you choose not to, you will lose all your points, and be disqualified from the exam."

Kiba slammed his hand down on the desk. "Of course we'll take it then."

"Hold on, I'm not finished. If you choose to take it, and get it wrong, not only will you be disqualified from this exam, you will be barred from ever taking the chuunin exams again." he finished. "Now, with that being said, who wants out?"

"That's a load of bull." Temari yelled out. "There are several people here you has taken the chuunin exams before. They were never barred from the chuunin exams."

"Well, tough luck. I wasn't in charge then. I am now, and I make the rules. Now who wants out?"

Several people raised their hands, and several teams were disqualified.

Naruto smiled a little. Then it went into a full blown grin.

Ibiki starred right at Naruto. _'Silver hair, steel blue eyes, and fox tails with ears. That's the one Anko told me about.'_ Ibiki smiled. _'He definitely seems smarter then the average ninja... that, or he keeps his cool better then most.'_

After a while, people stopped raising their hands.

"Is that all?" Ibiki asked. "Last chance."

No one raised their hands.

"Alright, now for the final question." He paused once more to hope that someone else raises their hand. "Everyone in here. YOU PASS!"

Several people face faulted. "What.. what was the final question?" Temari asked.

"There was no tenth question." Ibiki said.

"What was the whole point of us taking the first questions then?" Kiba asked.

"Knowledge and information gathering is an important technique that all shinobi must have. But you have to be secretive about it. If the enemy knows you are gathering information, then they can give you false information." He pulled off his bandanna, on his head was several scares. "If you fuck up in the shinobi world, you will fuck up big time. This isn't kindergarten, kids. If you gather the wrong information, then you and your teammates can die in an ambush set up by the enemy."

Naruto filed that away for later. It was true advice, and Naruto always wanted to look out for any kind of danger.

A crash was heard at the window, and a brown thing flew through.

_'Oh, hell no.'_ Naruto thought. _'We're all screwed.'_ and he proceeded to bang his head on the table.

"Hello, brats. The name's Mitarashi Anko, and I'll be your proctor for the second exam." Anko said, as a big sign was behind her. She paused for a moment. "26 teams. You're getting soft, Ibiki."

Ibiki just sighed. "You're early, once again, Anko."

"Bite me." Anko said, and looked back to the teams. "I have a test that's guaranteed to cut them in half. Alright, since you all seem to be confident, meet me at training ground 44 in 30 minutes. If you don't know where that is, follow me. But be quick, I don't like stragglers." She made a sly smile, and rushed out the window. Several of the shinobi rushed after her, as they didn't know where it was.

"Naruto, a second if you please." Ibiki said.

Naruto, who was leaving out the door like a NORMAL person, stopped, and went to the man's desk. "What is it, Ibiki-sensei?"

Ibiki looked Naruto over. "You've gotten bigger over the years. It's amazing how time can change people."

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

Ibiki just laughed. "I used to take care of you. Hell, because of you, I know how to change diapers." He chuckled a little more.

"Wait, you took care of me?" Naruto asked.

"Yea, until you turned 2, then Jiraiya-san took over." Ibiki said. "It's good to see you again. You're turning into a great guy."

Naruto smiled his genuine smile. "Thanks, oji-san." he bowed then left.

Only then did Ibiki catch the name Naruto gave him. "Oji-san? HEY! GET BACK HERE!" but Naruto was already gone. He heard a chuckle behind him.

"Naruto calls me that, too." Sarutobi said, as he stood by the window.

"Hello, Hokage-sama. I knew you were among the chuunin that was used to watch the students, I just didn't know which one."

"Yes, and I have to say, nice performance." Sarutobi said. "About that title Naruto gave you. It's actually an honor from him. If he respects you, he gives you a way to know it." he chuckled a little. "Do you want to know what he calls Jiraiya of the sannin?"

Ibiki stayed silent.

Sarutobi chuckled even more. "'Ero-ji-san.'"

Ibiki smiled, then laughed. "Alright, I'll accept the title of old man. Jiraiya seems to have it worse."

_'You certainly are a unique shinobi, Naruto.'_ Sarutobi thought, and then he vanished.

–

"Alright you brats." Anko said, once they had all gathered at training ground 44. "This is training ground 44. Otherwise known as the forest of death."

Naruto chose to say something. "If the snakes and lizards don't kill you, the poisonous bugs and plants will." He shivered. "I recommend staying away from the northern part of the training grounds."

Anko smiled mischievously. _'That area has my house. He's talking about me!'_ She flung a kunai straight at him.

He easily dodged it, but Anko was right behind him with another. She sliced Naruto's cheek a little. "He's got a point." as she licked some of the blood off of his cheek. "I would stay FAR from the northern sector of these grounds." She licked her lips. "Unless, of course, you want to DIE!" Right when she said that, she pulled out a kunai, and almost stabbed the tongue that held a kunai behind her. The tongue was long, and twisted coming from an Kumo nin.

"Sorry. I was just giving you back your kunai." the nin said.

"Well, it would be a good idea if you didn't do it with KI. I would've killed you just now." Anko said.

"Sorry, the blood in the air made me go a little frenzy." the nin said.

"Right, well." she disappeared, and reappeared near the gates. "This will be a scroll battle."

"Scroll battle?" Temari asked.

"You got it brat. Each team will be given one scroll each." She held up two scrolls, one with the kanji for heaven and the other earth. "Each team will get either a heaven scroll or an earth scroll." She paused. "In order to pass, you need to have both scrolls and be at the tower in the center," at this she held up a map, but only for a second, of the training grounds, "of the forest. If you did not get both requirements, you fail." She paused to let that sink in, "But first, I need you all to sign a waiver form."

"Waiver?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, this waiver basically states that if you die in this part, which some of you will, there will be no repercussions on us,, the proctors, or the village itself." Anko said.

Many gennin nodded, and the waiver was handed out.

"Once you sign it, one of your teammates will take all three to the booth over there." she point at a booth that had curtains to hide the people inside. "They will take your papers, and give you on of the 26 scrolls."

Everyone signed their waivers that they had received, and handed them to their team leaders.

Naruto went up to the booth, handed the waivers in, and then got handed an earth scroll. He quickly sealed it away into one of his 4 storage scrolls, which in turn was in a seal that was on his leg. Naruto was happy he figured out how to make simple storage seals. He had many all over his right leg. Most of them were for kunai and shuriken, but a few was for food, first aid kits, and extra assorted weapons.

He walked outside, and found his team. "Come on, we're gate number 12."

They nodded, and followed him to their gate. "Hello, Naruto." Kina said, as she appeared on his shoulder.

"Hello, Kina-chan. How's everything going?" Naruto asked.

"Just peachy, thank you." Kina said.

At that, Naruto got worried. Whenever Kina said 'peachy,' it meant that her next prank was ready.

"Everyone in their places?" Anko yelled out. She got a confirmation message from all the jounin at each gate. "BEGIN!"

–

Okay, that's it.

One, No one is around, so I'm not describing what it looks like yet.

Don't yell at me for the twin girls thing. It's an Idea I had from the beginning, and they hold more secrets then what's been revealed. So, give them a chance, eh? As for the other stuff, I hope you like it.

--

Omake: The monster named fluffy.

In another universe

A group of 8 foot tall mechanized beings were all standing in front of a giant monster.

This monster had two horns, and stood on two feet. Parts of the skin were scratched off to show metal parts underneath. It stood almost 50 feet tall, and had a demonic look to it.

"Okay ACC, The Bellatos and Corites are coming soon." yelled the commander, who had just scanned the map. "I want you to stand firm, and not let anyone pass! We must defend fluffy!" The bots nodded, and some of the bots assembled their launcher kits. "Get your OC pots ready!" a bunch of the bots soon glowed a small red.

All of a sudden, even bigger mechanized things came rushing down the only entrance to the mining shaft, followed by very child like humans carrying staffs and swords, and elf like creatures soon followed after. Behind all of them, slowly walking was an elf in a suit followed by a creature that had a giant jet pack on, and he was carrying a smaller then usual staff. He raised the small wand up, and a nuke missile came down from the sky, and broke through the mining shaft to kill all of the defending bots. All but one.

The opposing force decimated the giant monster.

The remaining bot fell to his knees. "FLUFFY! NOOOOOO!" and then he was killed. (If anyone can tell me the game this was modeled after, you win a cookie. Funny thing is, the HSK really is called fluffy on our server... at least by the players.)

Omake: The Pranks. Part one.

Three months to the chuunin exams.

Naruto was walking down the hallway to his apartment. He opened the door, and inspected the inside of the apartment.

He had been pranked ten times since the start of the prank war, and he had just pranked Kina back two days ago. He had a resolve to get the prank before he sprung it.

After he took a good look around, he went to close the door, but found that he couldn't take his hand off the doorknob. He jerked and pulled at it, but no use.

"AHAHAH!" Kina laughed, as she popped in on the floor near Naruto. "I can't believe you fell for it! Now to complete the prank." She lifted her finger up, and Naruto saw a small tiny little wire next to it. "I win." and she touched the wire. Immediately, a bucket of ice cold water was dumped on Naruto, freezing the glue on the door handle even more. When Naruto thought that the water was done pouring, he smiled, thinking it wasn't that bad. Until, of course, the bucket fell on his head. He tried to take the bucket off, but it was the same as his hand, stuck. "Don't even try, Naruto. You're stuck to that doorknob, and your head stuck in the bucket." Naruto was stuck there, until Nelrim came by the next morning to get Naruto out of the trap.

Naruto smiled though. Why? He already had his next trap set up.

At the training grounds, Kina was sitting in the same exact spot by the water on a rock that she always sat at. All Naruto had to do, was step on a certain rock in Nelrim's field to set it off.

Naruto was standing in the same spot, along with his clones. All he had to do, was shift his feet by one inch. He moved his foot over the small rock, and smiled. He started concentrating on his work. The rock had a secret wire to it, that tripped another set of wires. This set of wires then set off another set that were connected to cans.

About three minutes later, Kina came into Nelrim's training area. She was covered head to paw in silly string. "I don't know how you did it, Naruto-kun, but I will get you back."

All Naruto could do was laughed trying to look innocent.

Nelrim? He was the observer for this little party. He secretly tallied 10 to 11, in Naruto's favor.


	13. Chapter 13: Lucky Number

Disclamer: If I actually owned Naruto, he would be a badass in the cannon. The Ocs I do own ARE badass.

Okay.. so I need a vote from all you guys... This pertains to the three year training trip with Jiraiya and Naruto.

There are three choices.

One, Naruto and Jiraiya go on a training trip, and we time skip to the end of it.

Two, Naruto and Jiraiya go on a training trip, and we watch his progress along the trip.

Three, Naruto doesn't go on a training trip with Jiraiya, and he trains at home, but for three years. This will be a time skip.

The explanation for each choice in detail is at the head of chapter 12.

The choices will be on a poll at the top of my profile. If you have not voted yet, please do so. If you don't want to vote, then don't. It's your choice.

The poll will close once I get the last chuunin exam chapter up, which wont be for a couple of chapters. Maybe even three or four, depending on how long I drag out the prelim battles... Speaking of, I still need to do those...

Now, here's a confirmation to worried reviews and PMers.... NO CURSE SEAL FOR NARUTO! God, I hate that dinky little hickey. Oh, and I know some of you people are going to complain about it, but I hated the forest... too much Orochidickhead stink in it...

Now, on to the fic...

–

Chapter 13: Lucky Number

"Everyone in their places?" Anko yelled out. She got a confirmation message from all the jounin at each gate. "BEGIN!"

The gates flew open, and all the teams ran into the forest, in hopes of getting a head start.

About 3 minutes later, team 8 stops on a tree limb.

Naruto let his seventh sense out. He's practiced it for a while now, and he's loved it. He created a few clones to search the perimeter. Not high value clones; only at 20 percent.

Hinata activated her Byakugan.

Shino let his bugs out.

After about 2 minutes of looking through these various methods, Hinata spoke up. "I found a team about 100 meters north by northeast. Class is kiri nin. They have a heaven scroll. Exactly what we need."

"Thanks Hinata-chan." Naruto said. "Shino, can you surround them with your bugs?" Shino nodded.

Kina was perched around Naruto's neck, watching wearily for anything that might ambush them.

"Okay," Naruto said. He created a clone flawlessly, and then popped it. "My clones will be getting into position as well."

They moved slowly to their targets. Shino spoke quietly. "My kikai are in position. Waiting for your mark, Naruto-san."

"Good, Hinata-chan, if they somehow make it outside of our attack area, I want you to sneak around and get them. We'll try to chase them in your direction." Naruto whispered.

"Roger." Hinata whispered back.

Any usual talk between them had disappeared the moment they enter the gate. Right now, this was the deadliest team mindset they had. And for good reason. With 25 other teams out there, you have to be calm, collected, plan ahead, and most importantly, never panic. Kurenai had beat this into them.

The group moved closer, till they were all in view of the targets. Naruto pointed to Shino and Hinata, and told them to spread out using hand signals. They nodded, and moved into position.

The 'targets' were three kiri nin. They had decided to make a headquarters and spread out traps in the area. Unluckily for them, Naruto, one of the greatest pranksters in history, got rid of them in a pass around them. They couldn't even feel his presence. Hinata, being a Hyuuga, also saw the traps, and maneuvered around them as well. Shino got assistance from Naruto via Shino's bug on Naruto's shoulder.

Shino felt his kikai bug on Naruto's shoulder get the signal, which was a tap on the bug's body.

Suddenly, the three kiri's, who were looking over a map made in the dirt got thousands of bugs rained down upon them. None of them escaped.

Shino appeared in the area slowly, and walked up to the three prone bodies.

Amazingly, one was conscious. "H-how did yo-you get ar-around the traps?" has asked.

Shino just walked up to the nin, and kicked him in the head to knock him out.

Naruto went down to the small set up as well, keeping his senses on high alert. He searched the group for anything they might need, as well as the heaven scroll. He pulled out a slip of paper from the female of the group. It read, _team 13 special trap squad._ Naruto chuckled a little, and handed it to Shino.

"My lucky number." Naruto said, and then proceeded to tie the nins to a tree.

Shino didn't react to the paper, but quickly let his bugs go out to patrol the area. It took Naruto a couple of minutes, but he finally managed to get the nin's tied up.

He made a random signal in the air, and Hinata came down. She still had her Byakugan on. "Let's move, it's never good to sit still."

"Agreed," Shino said.

Naruto nodded, and created three 100 percent clones flawlessly. "Get on them. I want to leave this forest ASAP. I never liked it here. Hinata keep your Byakugan on; you're going to love this. Shino, you might want to close your eyes, or else you could get sick."

They nodded, and climbed onto the clone's. "Okay, guys. Just like step three of MK. Releasing gravity seals completely."

The clones nodded, and stood in a racing position facing the direction of the tower.

Kina braced herself against Naruto's body, and then used chakra to cling on.

_'Kai!'_ The gravity seals released. Naruto gathered a large amount of chakra in his back and in his legs._ Myaku!' _Naruto said in his mind.

One moment there was four Naruto's, Shino and Hinata, with a Kina on the middle Naruto. The next, A big cloud of dust was in the air all around the clearing along with a bang sounding off in the distance. When the dust cleared, none of team 8 was there.

Two ANBU hopped down into the field right where they were. The ANBU looked around carefully. In the direction of the tower, several scratch marks were on the trees, along with a small trail of destroyed brush right under it. She followed the trail. Her partner followed closely behind.

The female ANBU didn't have a normal ANBU style. The mask was a white fox, and painted more viciously red then usual. She had dark red hair, and a white suit. Where a symbol was supposed to be, there was nothing. It was blank. She had no village.

The male ANBU had black hair, and the usual black attire for a Konohagakure. His mask was a black wolf, and his forehead had no village symbol either.

Nelrim blinked out of existence nearby with a smile on his face.

–

Next to the tower.

The four Naruto's, Shino and Hinata appeared out of nowhere exactly 23 seconds after he took off. The dust barely settled down behind them, as Shino and Hinata caught their breath.

Hinata and Shino were let down, and Shino proceeded to throw up in a nearby bush. Hinata just sat down, catching her breath.

Pant. "That was..." pant. "Amazing." Hinata gasped. "I've never been so fast in my life."

Shino came back from the bush. "Naruto, as much as I respect you as a leader," he panted a little, "I am NEVER doing that again."

Naruto chuckled. "Don't worry, that was a one time deal." He walked towards the door. "Let's head in. Today's been kinda tense, and I bet you two could use some rest."

"You think?" Kina said. "You just used your fastest technique with them barely holding on."

Hinata nods, and shakily stood up. Naruto caught her as she was about to fall, and a blush adorned on her face. She nuzzled up to his chest almost unconsciously.

"Come on. You two don't look well." Naruto said. And ordered his clones to help Shino get inside.

Once they entered the door designated for gate 12, Hinata giggled a little. "I think..." she caught her breath. "I think we beat the record."

"Let's hope. The smaller the amount of time in that forest, the better." Naruto then shivered at the memories he had of being in Training ground 44. (This will be an omake at the end)

They then looked at the wall in front of them. On the wall, a board was hanging up. The board had words on it.

Naruto read it aloud. "If you do not posses heaven, then gain knowledge and be prepared. If you do not posses earth, run through the fields to seek strength. If you open both heaven and earth scrolls, dangerous paths turn into safe paths. This is the secret of the shinobi. It shall lead your way."

Hinata spoke up, "What do you think it means?"

"Determining the words and the test at hand," Shino started, "It is logical to assume that we can open the scrolls now."

Naruto nodded, and waved his hand over his leg. The two scrolls appeared from the seals. He handed one to Hinata. "Okay, let's try it out."

They opened the scroll at the same time. He felt chakra in the air, and read his scroll. "Oh, I get it. Put yours down on the ground, Hinata-chan."

She nodded, and placed it down. Naruto put his heaven on top of the earth. "Now let the magic happen." (1)

Smoke popped up onto the scrolls, and a voice rang out from inside it. "Congratulations."

The smoke cleared, and both Jiraiya and Iruka was standing there.

Iruka went up to Naruto. "Good job, Naruto." He patted the kid on his head. "I knew you could do it. Just not so fast."

"Yea, gaki. You broke.. no wrong word.. shattered.. no there are still itty bitty pieces... ah I got it, OBLITERATED the record time. Just 19 minutes and 53 seconds. The old record was 5 hours and 37 minutes. How the hell?! I knew you were fast, gaki, but I didn't know that fast!" Jiraiya was almost jumping up and down at this point. He calmed himself down. "So, how did your friends take the speed trip?" If you didn't know, the training grounds has a 10 Kilometer radius, giving it quite a run of a little more then 6 miles from start to finish. (actual fact, provided by narutopedia) Given that it doesn't have flat terrain, and that it has dangerous plants and animals as well as other teams to be aware of, that's quite a feat. (2)

Shino spoke up. "It was the scariest moment of my life. Every time we would just nearly miss a tree. And I what I mean by that, I think Naruto pushed off the trees somehow."

Naruto spoke up. "Yea, even with my enhanced vision, going that fast can make ya go tunnel, so I kinda used a technique to help not hit trees."

Hinata spoke up. "I was wondering why we always had a near miss, and that scratch marks were appearing on the trees when we passed them." Hinata walked right back up to Naruto. "But it was fun, I wanna do it again!"

Naruto laughed nervously. "Sure. Maybe after the exams."

"YAY!" Hinata yelled out, she then caught what she was doing, and blushed.

Shino then looked at Jiraiya. "Who are you?"

Jiraiya looked to Shin, and then Hinata. "What's with the hoods? I mean, I know about Aburame, and Naruto explained his, because he's a sage. What about the Hyuuga here?"

Hinata turned around to let the man see the back of her coat. He gasped.

"Wh... which contract?" Jiraiya asked.

"Cat... Now can you please answer our question?" Hinata asked, as she turned back around.

"Cat contract... A Hyuuga... No seal right on your head, right?"

She nodded.

_'Seal?'_ Naruto asked mentally.

"_I'll explain later."_ Kina thought back.

"You're Hyuuga Hinata. Clan heir of the Hyuuga clan, and you know Hiruka-sama." Jiraiya said.

"Actually, I'm her holder." Hinata said. "Now, about Shino's earlier question.. Who are you?"

"Oh? So you're number 2 then?" Jiriaya asked.

Now Iruka was thoroughly confused. "What are you talking about?"

"It's best to stay out of it, Iruka-sensei. Besides, it's her secret to tell." Shino said in return.

Hinata nodded. "Yes, I'm number 2."

Naruto sighed. "He's avoiding your question, because he doesn't want his position in the village revealed."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"He's Jiraiya of the Sannin." Naruto chuckled.

Both Shino and Hinata looked back at the old man. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Hinata said.

Shino spoke up as well. "It's good to meet you."

Jiraiya sniffed. "See, Naruto? This is what respect is. You should take a page from their book."

"Nope." Naruto said flatly.

"Anyways," Jiraiya growled, "I'm Jiraiya of the sannin. I've come here to congratulate you on passing the second exam. Please keep the fact that I'm in the village a secret. Iruka here will show you where your rooms are. There's plenty of food for everyone, so eat up."

Shino spoke up, "What about that saying on the wall there? It does seem to have a deeper meaning then just for this exam."

Iruka and Jiraiya smiled. "I guess you are beginning to learn how to look underneath the underneath. Yes, this board here means much more then just about the scrolls. It talks about the way of survival. If you have astrong body, but no mind..." Iruka started.

"Then you will be defeated in an enemy trap, or outwitted in a simple game of kunai." Jiraiya finished. "However, the same applies for the other way around. If you are smart, but not strong..."

"Any enemy could get close, and kill you right out." Iruka finished for Jiraiya. "This is something all chuunin must learn if they are to survive. They have also been known to lead teams of fellow chuunin or teams of gennin. If you have both strength and mental power, your chances of survival rate will go up substantially. If you can lead well, then your team will do well."

Jiraiya then spoke up. "I learned a saying from my sensei a long time ago. A country of fools lead by one smart person will destroy a country of strong people lead by a fool. Think about that one."

"So," Naruto spoke up. "It's good to be physically strong, but without proper skills to back it up you could be outwitted?"

"That's one way of putting it." Jiraiya said.

"Another way to put it," Shino started, "is that you could have all the power in the world, but if you don't know how to use it, it would be useless."

Jiraiya smiled. "That's another way of putting it. Come on you three. Think harder."

Hinata spoke up. "I noticed you said a country. Put it in context of what we learned just now. The country could mean a body. A person. Fools could mean man power. So you have some strength, but not over powered. The smart person could be how much the brain has learned. The other country has only worked their body, and never their mind."

"Oh, so close." Jiraiya said. "Iruka-san, you want to tell them?"

"Hinata-san was close. I would tell you, but that would be beside the point. The point of this one is to learn how to think and ask questions. Come back to either me or Jiraiya-sempai here, and tell us when you think you have the answer." Iruka said. "Meanwhile, I'll be escorting you to your rooms."

"Is there a training ground as well?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"No, sorry. And you can't leave the tower either until the second exam is complete." Iruka said.

"Damn.... can I at least stand on top of the tower?"

"Yea, you can stand on the tower's roof. Just as long as you don't leave the tower's perimeter." Iruka said.

"Sweet." Naruto smiled a bit. He would have SOME fun while he was here.

Kina stayed quiet for now. Iruka was in the room, and he didn't exactly know about her.

"Come with me, and we'll get you to your rooms." The gang nodded.

Jiraiya suddenly spoke up, "I'll give you guys one last hint. A smart person never knows a dumb question. And, Naruto, could I talk to you for a bit?"

The group stopped, and looked to Naruto. "You guys go ahead. I'll catch up later." Naruto said. They nodded, and left the room through a door. "You needed me, Ero-ji-san?"

Jiraiya sighed. _'WHY WONT HE STOP CALLIMG ME THAT!?' _"Naruto, did you release the chakra seal?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, why do you ask?"

Jiraiya's face grew a little dim. "So why do I feel a huge chakra source in the forest?" Jiraiya pondered. "Only a jounin can have that much.... It is darker then usual." Jiraiya's eyes go wide. "Shit." he looked back to Naruto. "You can go now. Rest up, and eat plenty. I have a feeling that there will be a preliminary match this time."

Naruto nodded, and left out the door.

Nelrim appeared in front of Jiraiya. "You sense him as well?"

"Yes, Orochimaru is here." Jiraiya said.

Nelrim nodded. "By the way, I saw something else interesting in the forest. I thought you'd like to know. One of your red eyed spies is in the forest, and he brought a swirling female friend."

Jiraiya looked at Nelrim with a serious face. "What did they wear?"

Nelrim smiled. "A lonely wolf and a bloody fox almost never travel together. And what's more, they were following team 8."

Jiraiya's eyes go wide. "Today just gets more and more interesting."

"Indeed."

–

A few hours later.

Naruto was happily chucking down ramen. He had found packages in a box designated just for him. He didn't know who did it, but he loved every bite. (3)

Gaara walked in at that moment. "So, you passed as well. I heard you beat our time by a little more then an hour."

"Maybe." He slurped up a bunch more. "But you beat the old record as well. An hour and thirty seven minutes is nothing to scoff at."

"True." Gaara said. "I wonder, Uzumaki, how much I can prove my existence in killing you." To say that Gaara doesn't watch his surroundings will get you killed by him. Gaara had felt Naruto's presence whisp right by him in the blink of an eye. That had startled him. "I look forward to our match." (4)

Naruto did a small laugh, "I'm looking forward to it as well." He picked up another bowl. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have ramen to eat." And he started to inhale the sweet flavorful ramen down once more.

Gaara nodded. His opponent has been told of his doom. He could wait to kill him now.

Temari and Kankuro walked in a bit later. "Has Gaara been acting a little... more crazy to you?" The face painted clown asked.

"I don't know, but," Temari paused and looked at Naruto who was pretending not to listen, "Ever since he met that hooded kid, he's been acting kind of strange..er."

"I know what you mean." Kankuro said.

"You know, I can hear you." Naruto said. (You have to remember, with Naruto's trench coat on, his ears can't be seen, and they haven't seen his face due to a mask.)

They got startled at that. "Then maybe you can tell us?" Temari asked coolly.

Naruto got a sly smile, "That's for me and Gaara to know, and you to never find out... hopefully."

"Why are you so hopeful about it?" Kankuro asked.

"Because if you find out, then my friend will have to mind rape you and put you in a weird place." Naruto said. "And I can't stop it from happening."

Temari and Kankuro looked a bit green. The tone the hooded boy used was serious, and the room grew cold. He meant it as a serious warning.

The room grew warm again, and Naruto continued to eat.

Kankuro whispered, "Let's get out of here."

Temari though, wasn't as scared as Kankuro. In fact, she was perplexed. _'He gave off such a cold atmosphere, and then brushed it off like it was nothing. What is he? And that threat he gave us. He wasn't threatening us, just giving us a warning. Who are you?'_

She quickly saw that Kankuro had left with his figurative tail between his legs. She cursed her brother, and then left the room as well.

Naruto smirked. _'Suna nins, 0. Naruto, 3. Keep it coming.'_

Naruto finished his last bowl, and then went to clear his place from the table. The cafeteria had several tables, sinks, and serving lines. It was like the place was meant to serve an army during wartime.

Naruto registered the fact that it might have been a last resort stronghold used during the great shinobi wars. Hell, the S sector of the forest alone can kill of thousands of shinobi, and it wouldn't even put a dent in the forests weapons made of S ranked animals and triple S ranked plants. Don't even mention the fact that the tower looked like it could withstand any kind of attack, as well as the fact that the shinobi inside could dish out high powered attacks in safety.

Naruto shivered at one of his particular memories of the S ranked sector.

_Flashback_

_During the month of hell, week three, day 2._

"_Welcome to the most dangerous training grounds in the entire world." Jiraiya said. They were currently standing in a clearing. The clearing had two different sides to it. The normal looking trees that one would see in the forest of death. Large, big, old but true trees. Then the other side's, twisted sick, diseased trees in front of Naruto. It was almost like a line. A sudden difference in trees, and neither type wanted to mingle with each other. "Of course, you will be doing survival training.. against Anko here." Jiraiya said, with a sinister smile on his face as he pointed to Anko._

"_Hehehe. Be careful, brat. I know this part of the forest like the back of my hand." Anko said._

"_Oh, and why is that?" Naruto was genuinely curious. He was still scared out of his mind, but he was curious dammit._

_Anko looked left and right. She looked right back at the two other people in the area, and smiled evilly. "I live there. And if you tell anyone, I'll castrate you both faster then you can blink. And I don't miss."_

_Both males gulped while losing some blood from their face._

"_A... a-and on that note, Good luck, gaki!" Jiraiya turned and ran back into the C sector of the forest._

"_Dammit you traitor. Get back here!" Naruto yelled out, as Anko slowly walked up to Naruto from behind. She grabbed him, and then threw him clear into the forest. She laughed maniacally. "Let the fun begin!"_

_End flashback here because Naruto would cry himself to sleep if he tried to remember any further._

Naruto thought, _'Anyone in the S ranked sector during this chuunin exam is royally screwed.'_

In the S ranked sector

Kiba, Sakura, and Sasuke all sneezed at the same time.

"Someone must be talking about how great we are." They all sneezed again.

Sakura spoke up. "They say if you sneeze once, someone is talking about you. If you sneeze twice, then it's a bad thing about you. And," they all sneezed again. Sakura grew scared.

"And?" Kiba asked.

"And if you sneeze three times, someone is talking about your death." Sakura shivered.

Sasuke just 'hn'd' and started walking again. He intended to survive in this northern part of the forest just to show off to the dobe that he could live in this sector. His team be damned.

A sudden huge gust of wind then blew into the area, carrying Kiba and Akamaru along with it.

"What was that?" Sakura asked.

"Kukuku," A mist shinobi women laughed. "Well, well. If it isn't team 7 from Konoha."

Back in the tower

_'Yeap, whoever is in that sector is dead meat.'_ Naruto finished his thought.

Naruto walked back to the room designated for Shino and himself. Naruto was a bit tired from using that many Myaku at once. Every time he pulsed, his body would feel a great strain on his body. He quickly discarded the thought of what it would be like to use a Myaku without the step one training. Even he wouldn't have been able to survive that.

He still hadn't gotten it down right. Nelrim had told Naruto that he would know that he had perfected the first part of step 3 once he didn't create any backlash to the area around him when he used it. Meaning no dust would fly up. The life threatening dangerous part was the fact that the sudden acceleration of Myaku, or the sudden decompression of the chakra in his body could kill him.

Naruto had to be realistic though. Even without perfecting it, the things he could use with what he has already learned would be amazing. He was hoping for a good fight soon.

The basic idea is that, like chakra hops, where you hop using chakra on your feet in different concentrations, you would create a massive amount of chakra concentrated into your tenketsu, and then launch it in the opposite direction that you want to go. The best part is, is that it worked on air just as easily as it does on ground.

Essentially, if he was in mid air, he could change his direction instantly.

The second part of step three was quite different. It used the Myaku in the same concept, but for offensive purposes. He was having a hard time learning it, and he almost blew the skin off his back from a screw up.

Naruto entered the room, and inside was two beds. They weren't fancy, but it beats living on the forest floor. On one of the beds, Shino was laying down, still a bit sick from the earlier adventure.

"You feeling better?"

"Yes, Naruto-san." Shino said. "Please warn me next time you do that speed thing. I want to see it happen from a third person this time, not first person."

Naruto chuckled, "Will do. Where's Hinata-chan?"

Shino lifted his head up. "She's in the room next door. She hasn't come out of her room at all."

"Cool, I'll go check on her." Naruto said.

He walked out the door, and went to the door next door. He knocked on it. "Hinata-chan? You there?"

No answer.

"Hinata-chan, if you don't answer, I'm coming in." he warned. He counted to three, and turned the knob, hoping that the girl was dressed.

Inside the room, a sleeping Hinata, still fully dressed, was lying face up. It looked like she came in, and then just fell on the bed.

_'She must have used up a lot of energy using the Byakugan constantly.'_ Naruto thought. _'It doesn' just drain the users chakra, but also their mental power from what Kina told me.'_

Sleeping on top of Hinata's chest, Hiraku was dosing in and out just like a normal cat would. She saw Naruto approach the bed. "Hello, Naruto-kun." she whispered. The fox next to her was in deep asleep.

"Hello, Hiraku-sama." Naruto whispered back.

"Please, just Raku-chan. I hate formalities." She whispered.

"I wanted to talk to you actually, but it seems Hinata-chan here looks like she needs tucking in." Naruto whispered, and smiling.

_'Aw, so sweet.'_ Hiraku though.

Naruto took off the girl's shinobi sandals, and got maneuvered her under the covers. He was blushing about it the whole time. _'Why am I blushing? It's just my teammate.'_

Naruto picked Hiraku up, and placed her on his shoulder. "I'll give your kitty back to you, Hinata-chan. I just need to borrow her for a bit." Naruto whispered to the girl.

He turned around, and left out the door.

If he had turned back before he left, he would have seen a smiling Hinata who was blushing madly, and a smirk on the fox.

–

On the roof of the tower.

Naruto had walked up there by using a window and using chakra to get up.

"You needed to talk to me, Naruto-kun?" the kitten asked.

"Yea, it's about my bloodline." Naruto said.

"Oh, I take it Nelrim told you what I told him?"

He nodded.

"Well, I only gave him partial information."

"He said that might be the case." Naruto said.

"Can't lie to a Veral- uh... I mean... one of his kind easily. Even me." she sighed. "Well, here it goes. Your bloodline is called Kagedoushinkai, which literally means shadow reflex. The basics of the bloodline are as follows. Whenever you have an adrenaline rush; that is, whenever you are in a very stressful situation, or whenever you are extremely excited; the bloodline activates it's special chakra. Light chakra."

"Light chakra?"

"I'll explain later, for now your bloodline." The kitten said. "Your bloodline was created by an immortal father, a Triste, and a mortal mother, one of the lands greatest Kunoichi." She paused, knowing a question was coming.

"An immortal father?" Naruto said. "And what's a Triste, Nelrim only talked about them a little?" (Pronounced Tres-teh)

"A Triste is an Immortal human who has two parents that had a special gene. This gene essentially is the ultimate blessing and a curse." Hiraku said.

"He's already explained that part. You live forever and have mind powers, but at the cost of your humanity and you have to suck out people's souls." Naruto said.

"That's mostly true, except one part. You don't have to lose your humanity. It's how you grow up mentally after you change that makes it whether or not you lose your humanity. For instance, if you don't learn control at an early age, you suck everyone's souls around you dry." Hiraku said. "But that's off topic."

She paused for a moment gathering her thoughts. "From what I remember of the bloodline, it hardens your body's muscles and bone structure forcefully during the change period, which I guess you already have." Naruto nodded. "And after that, most of your Light chakra usually resides around the brain, constantly waiting for when you have a rush. When a rush activates, the chakra spreads out to all of your senses to help amplify the adrenaline. During the rush, your body will react faster then normal, and speed up to great amounts. Time might even seem to stop around you, which is normal. But this has it's limits. You cannot start any genjutsu or ninjutsu during those times that time seems to stop. The reason is, is that your chakra flow will be a bit erratic, due to the light chakra being in your system."

"That doesn't sound right." Naruto said.

"What do you mean, Naruto-kun?"

"Well, I don't know how to explain it, but ever since an incident on top of the hokage's monument, I've been able to feel and use the chakra freely. Hell," two Fox masked ANBU came down next to Naruto, "I created these two with the help of the light chakra along with the other three energies I can use."

The kitten quickly looked both of the twins over with a critical eye. The twins both had black fox masks, and standard ANBU gear for a konohagakure ANBU. They had their hair braided, which reached their feet. She didn't see anything special about them, but then she notcied something. Her eyes suddenly widened, "Holy!" she backed up from the two. The twins looked at the fox with a steady glare. The kitten gulped and went back up to Naruto. "Naruto, whatever you did, don't do it again! Got it?!" She was obviously scared of something.

Naruto looked confused. _'All I did was make clones using chakra, what could be so bad about that?'_ He nodded anyways. The twins disappeared. "Is that all about my bloodline?"

"Mostly, but from I can tell by what you told me, you can use the chakra for other things other then being an amplifier." Hiraku said, calming herself down. She would have to contact the shinigami later. "You're the first to do so, as far as I can remember. Try testing with the light chakra, you might be surprised what you can do with it. Also, one more thing. During those hypertime periods that I explained about earlier, those will only last for one second. It might seems longer then that, but it will only last one real time second."

"Can you tell me anything about the chakra?" Naruto asked. "And what do you mean about one second?"

"Yes, but what I know is a bit hazy, incomplete. Because no matter how many times I asked one of the bloodline users, they wouldn't tell me much." Raku said. "Essentially, they all said the same thing about hypertime. 'Time is a conception of the beholder.'"

That struck a chord with Naruto's mind. _'Time is a conception of the beholder.'_

What happened in the wave country started to make sense. When he was being attack by Haku, and they were about to die. He didn't slow down time.

He simply sped up.

So much so, it was like it stopped. He was only in the small time frame for less then half a second, but he did about 5 seconds worth of work mentally.

Hiraku watched his eyes. _'The same look.'_ His eyes were deep, yet gone. Thoughtful, but not there. _'It's always that same look that the users give me when I ask them about the bloodline. Ooooh, what I wouldn't give to be a mind reader right now.'_

Naruto seemed to come back. "So, what about the light chakra?"

"Well, as I said before, I don't know much. All that I know is that they said it feels warm and relaxing when used."

Naruto agreed on that feeling. A small smile was on his face. He would be the first to try and use the light chakra for something OTHER then just his bloodline. He would go experimenting later. "Thanks for all the info, Raku-chan. It really helped out."

"Anytime, Naruto-kun." Hiraku said, and ran off to go sleep with Kina again.

Naruto just sat on the roof, letting his mind process what he was told. He looked out to the west to see the sun set. It reminded him of the time on top of the Hokage's monument. He smiled calmly on that.

–

Hinata came back to reality slowly. The last thing she remembered was feeling wiped out, and fell on the bed. She felt a weight on her chest, and she opened her eyes to see both Kina and Hiraku sleeping soundly on her chest.

She smiled warmly on that. _'A fox and a cat. Sounds like a nice couple.'_

She didn't feel all that sleepy, and she felt the need to move. She lifted both of the animals off her chest, and placed them on the bed. She heard a soft whine come from Kina, and the fox snuggled closer to the kitten. Together, they made a great big furball.

She looked over to the other bed, and she was surprised to see Temari sleeping. Hinata crept across the room as quietly as she could, and opened the door. She looked back, and everyone was still alseep. She moved out the door, and closed it.

Temari peeked out one of her eyes. She got up, and went over to the other bed, and picked up the animals smoothly. She went back to her bed, and laid down with the animals snuggled up right next to her.

–

Hinata walked around the grounds aimlessly. She knew that she couldn't leave the tower, but she needed to move anyways. She walked up to the upper levels, and peeked out a window. She looked east to see a quarter waned moon.

Her ears perked up. She heard a small flute tone coming from above her. It sounded soft, and lulling. Sad, yet caring.

She got out of the window, and used chakra to walk up the walls, toward the sound. (The guardian's song from pokemon. Of which, I don't own.)

When she neared the sound, she was at the top of the tower. She gasped to see that it was Naruto, standing on the very tip of the tower. His mask was down, to show his face for the first time in many months. Against his mouth, a metal flute shined in the moon's light. His hood was down, so she could see his silver hair flow in the wind, and glow in the moonlight.

The song seemed to flow through the air. Through her. He played so beautifully. She got up the rest of the way, and sat down on the roof. She closed her eyes, and listened to the song.

When the song ended, Naruto jumped down from the tip, and landed in front of Hinata. He was kind of surprised to see her out here.

Before he could speak, Hinata asked him a question. "Can you play that again?"

He smiled, "Sure. Anything for you, Hinata-chan." A licked his lips, and put the flute to his mouth. He started playing it once more.

The wind seemed to swing with the notes. It caressed her already cold cheeks. She closed her eyes again, just to listen to the melody.

When he finished again, Hinata immediately asked, "Can you teach me to play?"

He smiled, "Sure. Maybe after the exams?"

"Hai." Hinata smiled warmly. _'I get to spend time with Naruto!'_

She suddenly shivered as the wind picked up. Naruto chuckled, and sat down. He patted his hand next to him. Hinata smiled, and got up to walk over to Naruto. She sat by him, and snuggled up to him almost unconsciously. Naruto didn't really know what to do, but he put his arm over here. "Isn't the moon beautiful?"

"Yes." Hinata answered. She remembered something then.

_Flashback_

"_Look, my angel." A Hyuuga woman said, while holding a girl on her lap. Both of them were snuggled inside the same coat. The women pointed to the waxing moon. "Isn't the moon beautiful?"_

"_Hai, Oka-chan." The little Hyuuga girl said. She admired the moon. It always seemed so close, yet so far away. She loved how the moon would make everything shine so brightly. The little girl lifted her hands up to the moon._

_The woman smiled, "Reach for the moon, little one. For it shall guide your future."_

_End flashback_

"For it shall guide your future." Hinata said slowly.

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, I remembered something about my mom just now."

"Oh, and what was it?"

"'Reach for the moon, little one. For it shall guide your future.'" Hinata quoted. She was sad at remembering these things, but her Naruto was here to comfort her.

"Somehow, I don't doubt that, Hinata-chan." Naruto said.

She snuggled even closer to Naruto, and he unconsciously held her tighter. _'She's one of my precious people. She's one of the few who see the real me.'_

He lifted the flute up to his mouth once more, and played another song.

–

Kina slowly woke up. She looked over, and saw that Hiraku was as close as the kitten could get to her. Kina smiled. _'Always my darling little kitten.'_

She looked back up to see that it was Hinata she was sleeping on, but Temari. _'Now that's not something I expected.'_

She could feel the girl slowly waking up. Kina looked straight into the girls face, keeping a neutral, yet confused face on her.

The girl woke up, and saw that the fox was eying her. "Hello, fox-chan. Did you have a good sleep?" Temari would never admit it to her brothers, but she had a huge crush on small animals.

The fox seemed to understand her. No surprise there, since it was a nin-fox. The fox nodded her head, still eying the girl.

The kitten got up as well, but she already knew what had happened.

"Well, both of you seemed to have a nice nap." Temari said.

Both animals yawned a bit, and looked at each other.

A bigger cat popped into existence next to Temari. "Come with me, you two." The cat said, giggling like a mad man. "You have got to see this."

Then the three animals disappeared.

"What the..." Temari asked. "What just happened?" She asked the air. Nothing answered her.

–

On top of the tower

The three animals popped into existence.

"What did you bring us out here for?" Kina asked.

Nelrim was still giggling. "That." he pointed towards the center of the top of the tower. The sun was rising to the east, giving the three a clear view of the sight before them.

Sitting there, both asleep, were Hinata and Naruto.

Hinata and Naruto's heads were against each other, shoulder to shoulder. The funny part about it was that their lips were almost touching.

"Just a little more, and they would both have their first kiss." Nelrim said.

"Aaaawh. That's sooo sweet." Both females swooned. Suddenly all three got a sly smile.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Kina asked.

"Oh yea." Hiraku said.

"You get Hinata's head. I'll push Naruto's a tiny bit. Nelrim you tell us how to move." Kina said.

"Got it." They said.

The two female animals quickly and quietly moved up the bodies of there respective holders.

"Okay, Kina up a little. Hiraku to the left." Nelrim said.

The three worked quickly.

"There, now push the back of their heads a little."

Hinata's hood came down at that.

Kina and Nelrim gasped at what they saw.

Kina spoke quietly. "You gave her the cat ears and tail, didn't you?"

"How can you..." Hiraku said, as she looked at Hinata's head. "Oops. Eheheh."

They both glared at her.

"Well.... she wanted them. I told her she would be hated, but she didn't listen." Hiraku said.

"Well... the bluish purple shade of fur really does match her clothes and hair." Kina sighed. '_Oh the repercussions this will cause.'_

"And the tips have a nice shade of lavender which matches her eyes. Good job." Nelrim said, not really caring about what will happen.

Hiraku looked baffled. "Why thank you."

"Now, if we can get back to the task at hand? We have two teenagers to embarrass." Nelrim said.

"Oh, right." They said, and slowly pushed the two head closer together. Their lips touched, and they unconsciously kissed each other.

The three animals snickered, and Nelrim cloaked them all under an illusion that even Hiashi can't break.

Hinata felt something rough caress her lips. It was sweet, yet salty. She loved the taste of it, and went in for more.

Naruto had never tasted something so succulent before, and had wanted more of this sweet soft feeling.

They both opened their eyes slowly.

When they realized who the other was, they both blushed madly, and quickly got apart.

Hinata went to push her fore fingers together, and Naruto just looked up at the sky.

Hinata's thoughts. _'!'_

Naruto's thoughts. _'That felt niiiiiiiiice. Wait, I just kissed my teammate! So why am I blushing about it? I mean. I like her, but I don't know about it in THAT way. But, she felt so smooth. No, bad thoughts bad thoughts! But she smelled soo niiiiice. BAD THOUGHTS BAD THOUGHTS! DO NOT GO PERVERTED ON ME! But she kissed soo gooood. GAH!'_

Kina's thoughts right after Naruto's._'Typical boys.' _She shook her head.

Hiraku's thought's regarding Hinata's. _'Hehehe, and the deeper she kissed him the first time, which was almost tongue, the more she will want him. Hehehehehehe.' _[Put mentally laughing evilly here.]

Nelrim's thoughts. _'And so, the drama begins.' _Nelrim disappeared, an evil laugh in his wake.

–

Kurenai was walking down the hallways to where her team would be sleeping. She had heard that they had passed the second exam, and she rushed up the river passageway to the tower as fast as she could.

When she turned around the hallway, she quickly went back around the corner. She peeked around it.

Walking down the hallway, both Naruto and Hinata were blushing, and looking down at the ground. Whenever they would look at each other, the blush would deepen, and they would look back down.

Kurenai's smile went sly. _'Well, well. It seems like the cat and the fox had a nice moment. I'll have to drag Hinata to the side for the gooey details later.'_ She left the two teenagers to their own devices.

Down the hall

"I guess I'll talk to you later, Hinata-chan."

She nodded, and went into her room, still blushing madly. There is one thing to notice though. She did not pass out. She was happy to herself for that.

Temari saw the blushing girl. "Soooo, it's not really my business, but how was he?"

Hinata looked up. And blushed even redder.

"Ohhh, was he that good?"

"He had lips made by kami." Hinata said.

"What about his... you know..."

"Huh?"

… "Did you do it or not?"

"Do what?" Hinata asked.

… "Did you have sex with lover boy over there!?" Temari finally yelled out.

"N-no." Hinata's blush was reaching critical. "W-we just kissed."

"Oh, kissing? Is that all?" Temari flushed. "You acted like you had done something bad. There's nothing wrong with a little kiss."

Hinata mumbled something.

"Huh? Speak up, I can't hear you."

"It was my first kiss." Hinata said a little louder.

"Seriously? I had my first kiss when I was 7, and here you are at the chuunin exams, and you're just NOW kissing?" Temari asked.

"It was my first kiss, and it was from Naruto-kun." she said a little louder.

"We get it."

"My first kiss taken by the love of my life." Hinata swooned. She stumbled a bit to the left, and then a bit to the right. She acted a tad bit high.

Temari blinked, and got up. She went over, and felt Hinata's head. "You don't seem to have a fever."

"What's that?" Hinata asked with drowsy eyes.

The kitten poofed in right on Hinata's shoulder. The kitten, with her tails, pushed Hinata's bed toward the bed, and thought to her, _"Rest little one."_

Hinata went over to the bed, and laid down. Temari covered her over, with amazement.

_'I'm one of her enemies, and she's totally relaxed around me. Did Konoha get soft? Is this really a clan heir?'_ A frown appeared on her face. _'Konoha might die in the invasion. But,'_ She looked over to the girl, who was still blushing madly, _'She looks so happy.'_

–

Naruto walked into the room he uses with Shino.

Shino looked up. He was currently sharpening his kunai. "Hello, Naruto-san. You looked a little flushed."

"Yea, I slept out on top of the tower." Naruto said.

"That wouldn't explain why you're flushed. You can't get sick because of something like that." Shino said.

Naruto cursed that fact. He had been hoping that would be that. "Well... I spent the night on top of the tower with Hinata-chan."

"Oh? But you two have been hugging. That shouldn't make you flush." Shino said.

"Goddamit all, and your logic. Alright, I kissed Hinata-chan." Naruto said.

A giggle escaped Shino's lips.

Naruto froze. "I'm going to pretend I never heard that giggle."

"You're first kiss?" Shino guessed.

Naruto blushed a little. "Yea."

"So, did you like it?"

Naruto looked down. "Yea."

"Sooo, why are you so flushed about it?" Shino said. "Logically, you wouldn't need to be blushing over a little kiss."

"Because, I kissed Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled out.

"Oh. I didn't know you loved her." Shino said.

"Love?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, if you didn't, you wouldn't be making such a big deal about just a kiss, Naruto-san."

Naruto went into deep thought. _'Do I really love her? I mean, she does have a nice body. GAH! Bad thoughts! She is a sweet person. She's kind, and caring.'_ "I need some food." Naruto said, and walked right back out.

"I'll come with you, Naruto-san." Shino said.

The two walked out of the room, and down the hallway.

Kurenai saw that the two boys had left, and it was now safe to approach the door to Hinata's room. She opened the door, and snuck in.

"Who are you?" A female voice asked.

Kurenai turned around to see a Suna Kunoichi. "Hello. I hope you don't mind me being here. I'm here to look after one of my students."

"Oh, you mean high girl here?" She pointed at Hinata's bed.

Kurenai saw the flushed girl. She was biting down on the blanket, thinking deeply.

"Hinata-chan? What's wrong?" Kurenai asked.

"We've already been over that. Apparently, she had her first kiss with black hoody."

"Black hoody?" Kurenai asked.

"I know his name, but I've seen him wander around a lot wearing that black hooded trench coat." The girl said.

"Oh, you mean she had her first kiss with Naruto-san?" Kurenai said.

"Yeap. By the way, what's your name?" The girl asked.

"Yuuhi Kurenai. Sensei of team 8." Kurenai introduced herself.

"Subaku no Temari. Member of team 3." Temari introduced herself.

"Ah, so your the Kazekage's daughter."

Temari nodded. "So, what's with the fact that lover girl here hasn't kissed till last night? I thought it was standard for kunoichi to go through seduction classes."

"Well, you're right on that part. But Hinata-chan here is special. She's never had those classes because of her position in the village." Kurenai said.

"You mean clan heir of the most powerful clan in konoha village?" Temari asked.

"How do you know about that?" Kurenai asked quickly.

"Because, I've met her before with her father. Hiashi-sama and kazekage-sama meet often." Temari said.

"Oh, I guess you're right then."

"Still, I'm the daughter of the almighty Kazekage, and I went through them." Temari said.

"You still have proof of a virgin though, don't you?" Kurenai said.

Temari blushed at that. She mumbled a little while looking down.

"We tried to talk Hinata into the classes, but we never succeeded." Kurenai said. _'She would always run from them, or pass out.' _"Eventually, we gave up, and she became a kunoichi that doesn't know how to seduce. Then again, she wouldn't have been good at it anyways."

"Huh. And you're telling me all this, why?" Temari asked. "I mean, I can use some of this stuff against her."

Kurenai smiled. "Because, we're allies, essentially. And you don't seem the type to prey on weaknesses."

Temari stiffened. _'This woman could tell how I fight just from a short talk? I guess they didn't get so soft.'_

Kurenai went over, and put her hand on the girl's head. "She seems to have calmed down. Now all she has to get through her head, is that she's been kissed, and the drama will be over... for now." Kurenai got up quickly, and looked at the kitten on Hinata's chest. "Protect the girl. I know you can Raku-chan."

The kitten seemed to nod, and Kurenai left out the door.

Temari looked at the girl with jealousy. She wanted to have the kitten.

–

"Now to go bother Naruto-kun." Kurenai said to no one. "I know he's dense, but I didn't think he would go and kiss the girl." She reached the cafeteria, and slowly walked in.

Naruto and Shino had just sat down to eat.

They ate in silence for a bit, and Kurenai approached them. "So, Naruto-san. How was your first kiss?"

Naruto almost chocked on the piece of meat he was eating. "He-hello, Kurenai-sensei." Naruto said weakly, still blushing. His mask was down so that he could eat, but his hood was still hiding most of his face.

Kurenai made a sly smile. "So, how did you two end up kissing?"

"I-I don't know, Kurenai-sensei. I just woke up feeling something soft against my lips." Naruto said, still blushing.

Kurenai smiled. _'I think I know who did it. Raku-chan has always been the type for making embarrassing situations.'_ "So, answer my question, did you like it?"

Surprisingly, Naruto said this with confidence, "Like lips made by Kami herself."

Shino and Kurenai looked at Naruto seriously. The boy still blushed, but the confidence itself was staggering. Kurenai giggled. "Well, don't let this get in the way of our missions in the future."

"Hai, Kurenai-sensei." Naruto said. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I heard that my team came in first place, and, what was the word Jiraiya used, oh yes, obliterated the record." Kurenai said.

Shino spoke up. "I will never let Naruto give me a ride ever again."

"What did he do?"

"He used a new technique. Something called, MK?"

"Oh, yea. MK is short for Mizu Kanryuu. I used step three of what I know. Myaku, or pulse." Naruto said.

"Yes, Naruto-san, but did we seriously have to break the sound barrier?" Shino asked.

"No, that was just me showing off." Naruto smiled.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Kurenai asked.

"Well, you remember the month before the exams started?"

"Yes, you disappeared on us. We looked for you, but we couldn't find you." Kurenai said.

"Well, I was training with Kina-chan, Nelrim, and Ero-ji-san."

Both of them stare at him, and both asked. "Who's Ero-ji-san?"

"Jiraiya of the sannin."

Shino flinched at that. _'His blatant disregard for authority figures. Logically, that would be Naruto.'_

Kurenai's jaw just dropped. "Why are you calling one of the most feared shinobi in the world, perverted old man?"

"Because I can, and it's true." Naruto said quickly. "Jiraiya is the biggest pervert I know of. Hell, he even calls himself 'The Super Pervert.'"

"I've heard that name somewhere before." Kurenai said, tapping her finger on her chin.

"He writes Icha Icha Paradise." Naruto deadpanned.

Sudden lightning strikes through the air. Kurenai is cracking her knuckles. "Where is he? I want to... ask for an autograph."

Naruto and Shino were scared shitless.

Naruto pointed at a corner in the room where the sannin was sitting at a table.

Kurenai walked over to the man, picked him up by his collar, and left the cafeteria.

"So, what type of casket should we get him?" Naruto asked.

Shino very calmly said. "Oak."

Naruto nodded, and they calmly ate food while screams of a dead man echoed through the tower and into the woods.

–

Kiba and Akamaru were doing guard duty, though painfully. They had several injuries, and they were mostly in bandages.

Sasuke, who was lying down on the ground inside a tree, was no better. He had several wounds on his body, and he was being treated by Sakura as much as she could hold out. She knew basic first aid, but not much else. What was even worse, is that the hickey that Orochimaru gave Sasuke seemed to make the boy thrall in pain.

"Shh, Sasuke-kun." she said as he thralled around for a bit. "You're safe for now."

A small squirrel was hopping forward, towards the group.

Kiba saw the squirrel, and threw a kunai at it before it set off one of Sakura's traps.

The squirrel got scared off, and three sound nin cursed up in the trees.

"He must've seen the exploding tag on the squirrel's back." said the bandage covered face nin.

The other male spoke up. "Ah, it doesn't matter. Look at 'em. They're weak. The only one combat worthy is that girl, and she looks really hopeless."

Said girl sneezed.

The female sound nin spoke up. "Then let's hurry up before someone else comes along."

They nodded, and hopped into the clearing.

"Hello." he said. "We've come for your scroll. If you hand it over, and we wont kill you."

Kiba growled. First he was blasted away by a big futon jutsu. Then he was almost eaten by a giant snake, then he was almost killed by a pedophile snake. He wasn't about to let some gennin get away with attacking him, too. He hopped up on two feet, and performed a Tsuuga despite his injuries.

All three sound nin dodged, but they ran into traps made by Sakura.

Two giant logs came down to kill one of the gennin. Said gennin, the one with bandages, lifted his arm up, and somehow, destroyed the log.

Several Konoha Shinobi, chuunin and up, suddenly felt sad.

"Very impressive, but not good enough. My name is Dosu, and I'll kill you here and now." The bandaged one said. Dosu lifted his metal covered right arm back, and punched forward towards Kiba. Kiba tried to dodge, but he felt something hit him anyways. He grabbed his ears in pain, and kealed over. "Heh, I guess dogs can here beyond what humans can. But that makes you very vulnerable to my attacks." He launched another one.

"KIBA!" Sakura called out.

Kiba was hit directly, and thrown unconsciously into a tree nearby. Akamaru, who was too injured to fight anyways, passed out from sheer ear pain.

(And it pretty much goes the rest of the way like in cannon. If you want to see it, I think it's like episode 28. If you haven't seen it what-so-ever, I commend you. The series can suck at times. Now, I'm not going to type out what happens, because it will bore the hell out of both me and most of the readers.)

–

Naruto was laying down in his room. He was thinking back to his parents, and why he wasn't allowed to know about his dad. From what saw back on the hokage's monument, he got his looks from his dad. The blond hair. The sturdy face.

The blue eyes.

Those eyes told him a lot about his dad. How he cared for Naruto, how kind he was. How he had felt safe looking into the man's eyes.

Then Naruto's thoughts turned back to Jiraiya the morning of the chuunin exams.

_Flashback_

"_Naruto." The old man said._

"_Yes?"_

"_I need to tell you something, it's also about your parents."_

_Naruto sat down on a chair. If it was anything about his parents, he needed to know._

"_About me being your godfather. I need you to keep it a secret. I told you long ago, but I needed to remind you?" Jiraiya said._

"_Why?"_

"_Because, I was linked to your father. I was good friends with him, and if word got out that you're my godson, they would learn, and even worse, your father's enemies would learn who you are. You might be strong now, but until you can prove that you're chuunin, you can't take care of yourself."_

_Naruto nodded._

_End flashback_

Naruto pondered back over what he had heard.

_'"I was linked to your father. I was good friends with him."'_ Naruto thought that particular line over. _'Hmm, who did Jiraiya know historically that that could be my father?'_ He thought carefully. _'Blond hair, blue eyes, knew Jiraiya very well.'_ Naruto then connected that line to something else. _'Who was Jiraiya taught by? Sarutobi, the third hokage. Who were Jiraiya's team members? Senju Tsunade and Senunushi Orochimaru.'_Naruto paused. _'Tsunade is a girl, so she's out. Orochimaru is a traitor, and has black hair, so he's out as well. Who was Jiraiya related to.. Wait... does Jiraiya even have a last name?'_ Naruto paused again. _'I'll ask later. Did Jiraiya have an apprentice? Yes, but the apprentice was killed early on. Did Jiraiya have a gennin team?'_ Naruto stopped for a moment. _'Now that I think of it, they had a nameless Uchiha, the current head of the Nara clan, Nara Shikaku, and...'_ Naruto paused. He got up from his bed. _'And the fourth hokage.' _He started to get a hyper feeling in his mind. _'From the books I read about him, he had blond hair, blue eyes. The most powerful ninja in the village to date. He had an entire country cowering before him. Iwagakure. That could be the enemies. But a couple of problems with this theory. One, the councill would have treated me better if they knew. Two, he never married.' _Naruto paused once more. He got up, left his room, and walked up the tower's stairs. He knew about a secondary hokage office being at the second top floor of the tower. He walked up to the door, and knocked.

Surprisingly he heard a voice on the other side. "Enter."

Naruto had not been expecting someone inside. He just knocked to make sure that no one was there. Naruto sighed, and entered the office.

Inside, Sarutobi was working on some paperwork.

"What are you doing here, Oji-san?" Naruto asked.

"Well, I over look ever bit of the chuunin exams. I need to take in official times for who passed, and in what condition." Sarutobi answered.

"Oh."

"So, you needed something, Naruto?" the wizened old man asked, as he put his pen down, and folded his hands in front of him.

"Well..." _'Should I ask him or not? Ah, to hell with it.'_ "Can I look at a picture of the fourth hokage? I mean, I'm sure you have one of him. All I know about him are descriptions."

Sarutobi pulled the pipe out of his mouth, and breathed deeply. "Why do you wish to see one?"

"Because, no matter how long I search my memories, I can't even remember one picture of Namikaze Minato in any of our history books. Then again, I wasn't such an astute learner of history." Naruto deadpanned.

Sarutobi chuckled. "That doesn't seem to be the reason you have in your head." Sarutobi read the boy's body language. The boy hadn't lied, but he felt something being held back.

Naruto sighed, and after a few moments of thinking he said, "I have a theory, but I can't prove it until I see a picture of him."

Sarutobi sighed. "Yes, I have one of him, Naruto." He breathed in deeply. _'He suspects it, anyways. Doing this will prove it, but I dare not lie to him anymore.'_ He breathed back out, and opened a drawer in his desk. He took out all the contents, and went to the two blood seals on the bottom of the drawer. _'No one EVER thinks to look in the war time office for anything special.'_ Sarutobi suppressed a giggle. He put blood on one of the blood seals, and let it unseal. He took out the scroll inside, and then opened it. He searched halfway through the scroll, until he found the one he needed. He unsealed the picture.

Sarutobi desperately hoped that the boy wouldn't hate him for this.

–

**tbc...**

And cut.

The ending of this conversation will be next time. I decided that the chapter got long enough for now, and any further along this conversation, it will hop up to 15000 words in this chapter instead of the already 11000 words.

So the next chapter will also have the beginning of the prelims..

Oh, and, for the prelims, I'm thinking about switching up the matches. Hell, I'm not even going to decide who fights who. It's going to be completely randomized, because I can't figure out who should fight who.... seriously, I can't T.T So, with that said, if Naruto ends up against a crappy character, please do not blame me. Blame the randomizer I used.

1, I was so tempted to put down a naked Gai here, just like the one from the abridged series.

2, If you actually calculate, determining they went about 5 miles in 20 seconds, because they traveled easily a mile in that 3-4 minute run, it comes to about 900 miles per hour.... yea, think about it, and before you say, "That can't happen!" think about this. The human eye can keep up with objects going up to 100 miles per hour easily, untrained. For instance, ever watch a fast pitch on a baseball game? Yea, that's heading 90 plus miles an hour, you can watch it fly easily, and it's a small object. Trained, they can see even faster then that. It's how fast the brain processes that info, that makes us react to them. We see it coming, but we can't process it that fast. What about a trained ninja? So, on that note, how fast is Lee moving when he disappears during a fight? Oh, and the speed increase to that much will be explained later.

3, Okay, some of you might say, "What about poison, he could die!?" boo hoo... remember, Naruto is immune to poisons due to being a hanyou, and having Kina's yokou flow through him. So, he's never had to worry about them before, why start now?

4, I can't seem to get Gaara down. Any help? Please PM.

**Omake: The Forest of Death week 3 day 6. 4 days to chuunin exams.**

Naruto was currently running through the S ranked sector of the forest of death. He had almost 6.5x gravity on his seals, and almost all of his chakra is sucked out of him by 60 different chakra suppressing seals. (Remember, godlike amount of chakra.)

Anko was close behind him with 4 senbon kunai or shuriken in each hand. Sometimes a mix of all three was thrown. She quickly used several of her snakes from various positions around the sector to corner Naruto.

Naruto used one of his tails to grab a tree right next to him, and used it as leverage to fly over a snake pit. Naruto was sweating. A lot. At night, he was chased by constantly chased by creatures that possessed red or green eyes. Plants would attempt to eat his head off, and tangle him with prickly poisonous vines. Hell, he even saw a plant that looked like a dog, but made the sound like that of an elk, and nasty green dripped fangs. During the day, he was chased by Anko, snakes, carnivores, and many things with either sharp pointy claws, or long pointy fangs. Today was the final day of the month of hell. And he would be dammed if he would be caught today.

Naruto took out his last remaining kunai, and threw it at a nearby plant, dog, metal... thing.

The thing fell to the ground, dead. Anko hopped down next to it, looked it over, and then raised her head to the sky. "FLUFFY! NOOOOOOO! WHYYYY-" she quickly looked back down as the thing got back up. "Oh, hey, you're still alive. And I had a funeral planned and everything. Well, whatever, welcome back to the world of the living, mini-fluffy."

Naruto, when he heard 'mini-fluffy' almost shit his pants. The thing was taller then him in size. It had two horns, green over brush covering it's skin, and a few areas of it's skin had metal showing underneath. "Mini-fluffy?" Naruto asked.

"Yeap, this is only a one year old." She patted it on the head.

"So... where's the parents?"

"Behind you." Anko said happily.

Naruto froze. After a second, he frigidly turned around slowly. Behind him, two 50 feet tall monsters loomed over him.

"Mr. And Mrs. Fluffy, meet Naruto-kun. Naruto-kun meet the fluffy's." Anko said.

"H... hel.. ehh... hello." Naruto stuttered to get out.

One of them talked. "Hello, Naruto." Said one with a deep as hell voice. Sounded cracked, too.

"Yo... you're not mad that I threw something at your kid.... are you?" he almost squeaked out the end.

"Well... Yes, we are." The other had a more feminine voice, but still deep as hell.

"Sorry, I-I've been on edge for quite a few days now. What with Anko-nee-chan chasing me and all." Naruto chuckled nervously.

"Ah, well." The male one said. "Here's my answer to that." He picked Naruto up by the shirt, and then threw Naruto into the wall of the tower.. that was 4 miles away. "And let that be a lesson to you."

About 10 minutes later, Anko found Naruto on the wall. Still stuck in the crater he made in it. She calmly walked up to Naruto, and tagged him on the head. "Tag, you're it." And she ran off.

Naruto cried.

That's right folks, this was all a game of tag. And he had never won.

End.

**Omake: Prank wars Part 2**

2 months and 13 days to the chuunin exams.

Naruto slowly, but surely made his way to his door. The war had gone more and more upscaled. They were starting to take it to the next level, and now they were trying to outdo each other on village wide scales.

That doesn't mean there were no small time pranks here and there. No, by no means was that true. In fact, it was the opposite. No, they had to pull off a village wide prank and not get countered prank when performing the wide scale prank. And they would aim for where ever they would think the other would prank.

Naruto chuckled. Once he made it to his apartment, then his plan could unfold.

He walked up to his door, and checked the doorknob carefully. _'Is it trapped? It can't be, she's used it 13 times now. She wouldn't use it again, would she? Well, better to be safe, then sorry.'_

He created a low ranked clone, and told it to go in. The clone walked straight in, and nothing happened.

_'Well, I guess it can't be all that baaaAAAAAAD!'_ Naruto's thoughts cut off, as he had tried to walk in, and several traps went off.

He heard giggling come from above him. No, not the ceiling. He was currently hanging upside down by a rope. He had been tarred and feathered once more.

"You didn't think I'd have my traps go off on a mere copy, now would you?" Kina asked.

Naruto sighed. "I shouldn't be surprised anymore."

"Exactly.... Why are you smiling?"

"I still got the prank off." Naruto said. He pulsed a small amount of his chakra, and several seals went off in his room. "Go look outside." He was laughing evilly now. "Let all perverts remember this day."

Kina got a worried look, and approached the window carefully. Once she made sure there were no traps, she looked outside.

Kina almost lost her eyeballs she went so wide eyed. _'I didn't think of ANYTHING like this!'_

Sure enough, it was wide scale enough so that the whole village could see it.

The hokage tower had been painted orange from the inside out. And I mean everything. Down to the very fact that the hokage was now smoking orange colored tobacco.

The orange Sarutobi slowly pulled the orange pipe out of his orange mouth. He put it down, on the now, ruined orange paper work on his orange desk, and got up slowly.

He walked over to a special seal in the orange wall, and opened it with his blood. When he looked inside, he started to cry. Why? His collector's gold edition of Icha Icha Make-out Paradise, first one EVER made, was now completely orange.

He called in two orange ANBU by a hand signal. "Damage report."

"The entire tower is orange, sir." Hawk reported. "We have yet to find out how, or why. We think it was done by remote seals placed all over the tower."

"How a gennin, of all things, managed to do this to the tower, is beyond me. But to get even to the most secret vault of the hokage's is down right saddening. Come on hawk. You're the best of the best, and you were told to watch this sacred book with your life. You failed. Look." The man held the book open, and it was colored orange completely on every page.

Hawk felt sad. The coveted book of every perverted man's favorite series was now ruined. Hawk fell to his knees. "I, leader of the ANBU squad, have failed you. As such, I will stand down as leader."

"No, you shall stay as leader, but all of you will go through ANBU hell week training once more." Sarutobi said. "Dismissed." Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose. _'Seriously, how does a kid manage to get by all my ANBU. First the forbidden scroll, now this? What will happen next? Wait, if I remember correctly, Kina and Naruto were having a prank war... Oh god... It's Kina's turn now.'_

And Sarutobi started to sweat....

**Tbc... (evil laugh)**


	14. Chapter 14: Preliminaries

Disclamer: If I actually owned Naruto, he would be a badass in the cannon. The Ocs I do own ARE badass.

Okay.. so I need a vote from all you guys... This pertains to the three year training trip with Jiraiya and Naruto.

There are three choices.

One, Naruto and Jiraiya go on a training trip, and we time skip to the end of it.

Two, Naruto and Jiraiya go on a training trip, and we watch his progress along the trip.

Three, Naruto doesn't go on a training trip with Jiraiya, and he trains at home, but for three years. This will be a time skip.

The explanation for each choice in detail is at the head of chapter 12.

The choices will be on a poll at the top of my profile. If you have not voted yet, please do so. If you don't want to vote, then don't. It's your choice.

The poll will close once I get the last chuunin exam chapter up, which wont be for a couple of chapters. Maybe even three or four, depending on how long I drag out the prelim battles... Speaking of, I still need to do those...

Now, on to the fic...

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CAN BE OFFICIALLY CHANGED!!! That means I probably will be changing this chapter up after I post it. Depending on whether or not the reviews for this chapter are negative or positive. So do not be surprised if you see this chapter reposted several times.**

**–**

Chapter 14: Knowledge

Sarutobi looked at the picture of Minato. The man in the frame was wearing the hokage robes, but not the hat. He slowly handed the framed picture over to Naruto. "Here. This is him three months before Kyuubi attacked."

Naruto took the photo slowly. He looked at the photo with criticism.

_'The same hairstyle. The came hair color. The same calm, and peaceful blue eyes. This is the same man I saw on the monument.'_ Naruto paused in his thoughts. He looked back up. "Thanks, Oji-san. I just needed to know." He gave the picture back to the hokage, who sealed it away.

Naruto turned to leave, but the hokage stopped him. "Wait, Naruto." Naruto turned back around, but he wasn't all there. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I kept the secret from you."

"I understand." Naruto said slowly. "Iwa would've come for me."

Sarutobi picked his pipe back up. "Correct." He pulled out a tiny bag of tobacco. He put some into the pipe. "And now that you know, you can't tell anyone. This secret goes beyond that of kyuubi. I'm sorry, Naruto, but your father asked me..." He lit the tobacco with a small jutsu, and put the pipe in his mouth. He took a deep puff from the pipe. "... He asked me to keep you safe at all costs. I failed that mission the moment you got that gash on your throat."

Naruto placed his hand on the scar on his throat. It never went away, but it was faint. "You could've told me."

"Naruto, your father predicted your attitude." Sarutobi took another puff. He activated a seal under his desk, and the room became sound proof. "He saw so much of Kushina in you, he knew you would be a trouble maker. As such, he wanted to wait until you knew enough about life to be able to keep a deep secret. He asked that I give you a letter the moment you become a chuunin."

"Tell me one thing. Did he really love me?" Naruto had his back turned to the hokage as this point.

Sarutobi got up from his desk, and walked over to Naruto. He patted the boy on his head. "More then anyone else. Your mother and father wanted you to be seen as a hero in the village, and that you would live a happy life."

Naruto nodded slowly, but one more question burned his mind. "So why wasn't I?"

Sarutoobi's eyes got sad. "The council went behind my back, and told everyone that you were a jinchuuriki. I immediately acted to prevent further destruction of your life, and made it a law that no one of the new generation could be told, on punishment of death. But," Sarutobi went to a vault nearby, "The damage was already done. The villagers feared you would become the demon. The one they knew so little about." He dialed the last combination, and pulled out another scroll. "Kyuubi, as you know, is not really an evil spirit. Only called so." He opened the scroll, and placed it in front of Naruto. "Here is the law I had made, along with the terms and punishments. Please note the date."

"October 11. The day after I was born. So, you really did try, but they succeeded anyways." Naruto understood.

"I have one more set of pictures to show you. Will you be willing to look at it?" Hiruzen asked.

"Sure." Naruto said. He was a little sad at this point.

The old man nodded, picked the scroll up, closed it up, and locked it back up in the vault. He went back over to his desk, and picked up the other scroll from earlier. "There is a secret photo made three days after a hokage is inaugurated. It was a something that all the hokages did. It's an S class secret, but I think you have the right to know." He pulled 4 photos out of the scroll, and handed them to Naruto.

Naruto took them, and looked at them. Naruto gasped. In each of the 4 photos, the 4 hokages were depicted in their own photos. But they all had the same similarity. The all had a 9 tailed horse sized kyuubi in front of each of the hokages. The hokages were bowing to Kina!

"So, all of the hokages know about Kina? And why are they bowing to her?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. There is a contract that was made between the village of konoha and Kyuubi no Kitsune. The village would respect that the kyuubi owned the land of fire, and give her freedom to enter the village as she pleased. Also, we would leave her alone, and give her an offering of a festival every year. The people never knew what the festival was about, but they enjoyed it anyways. In return, the village would be allowed to prosper in peace. She would protect us from all of the unknown forces in the world." Hiruzen said quietly. "Now, we no longer have her full protection, and if she ever got free, I fear that she might just leave us anyways. She would never destroy us, but she wouldn't help us either."

"Why?"

"With the way the villagers treated you of course, just because you had her sealed inside of you." Sarutobi picked the photos back up, and sealed them up once more.

"Point taken, she hates most of the villagers now." Naruto said calmly.

Sarutobi eyed the boy. He sighed, he dreaded about what he was to ask, but he had to ask it. "Naruto, I'm sorry. Do you think you could forgive a fool**ish old man?"**

Naruto smiled somewhat. "I have never known for you to lie to me. You looked out for me when I was in trouble, and I suspect you helped me out somehow when I was a kid. Plus the fact that all ANBU were told to help me, right?"

Sarutobi sighed in relief. "Correct, Naruto."

"Then I forgive you." Naruto said calmly.

Sarutobi saw something in Naruto's eyes. He smiled. "You know Naruto. I completely agree with Jiraiya. You might become stronger then even your father. Make this old fool proud, and I bet your parents, no matter how you turn out from here on out, will be very proud of you."

Tears formed in Naruto's eyes. "Thanks, Oji-san." When Naruto said that, Sarutobi knew he had Naruto's full respect still. "I needed to hear that."

"Now, one more thing. As I mentioned earlier, you have a letter from your father." Sarutobi started.

Naruto nodded. "And I respect my Father's terms. I'll prove that I'm a confident chuunin, and then I'll grab that letter from you."

The hokage smiled. "Of that, I'm sure you will, Naruto. Is that all you wanted from me?"

Naruto nodded. "I'll see you later, Oji-san?"

Hiruzen smiled. "Yes, come whenever you like, Naruto." He sighed, and looked at his desk. "Now on to this retched paperwork."

Naruto laughed, and reached for the door. Naruto turned around to see Sarutobi said, and Naruto didn't like that his Oji-san was frustrated. He quickly thought of something, and smiled. "Hey, Oji-san."

"Yes?"

"I have the answer to all your paperwork problems."At that, Sarutobi sprang over the desk and groveled at Naruto's feet. _'Wow... he seems fit for an old man.'_

"Please tell me, Naruto!" Sarutobi said. "If you do, I'll give you anything you want!"

Naruto smiled some more. "Well... I was kind of short on elemental jutsus. You think you could get me some wind, water, and lightning type?"

Sarutobi was giddy. He quickly got up, and went over to a door that was sealed. He unsealed it, rummaged through it, and came back out with 4 scrolls.

"1 wind, 1 water, and 1 lightning scroll that almost no one uses. These jutsu all rank from C to A. One of the wind guaranteed to knock your opponents out."

"Thanks, but what's the last scroll?" Naruto asked.

"Well, that's elemental combination lesson. It'll teach you how to combine elemental affinities into an even more powerful one. It's a rarely ventured field though, but with your mind, you might be able to make something more out of it." Sarutobi paused. "Now, gimme." he said childishly.

Naruto laughed, and took the scrolls. _'Who said your inner child dies?'_ He sealed them away into a seal on his leg, and then stared into the hokage's eyes. "Two words. Shadow clone."

At that, Sarutobi simply nodded. He went back to his desk, and sat down. He rummaged through his desk until he found a letter from Jiraiya that said in bold words, 'Open when you figure out how to deal with paperwork.'

Sarutobi opened it up, and took out a piece of paper. On it, it said _Bang head here._ Inside a small circle that was in the center of the paper.

"Just one question, Oji-san. How come you have all this stuff here, and not in town?"

Hiruzen put the paper on the desk. "Well, this office is actually the original office of the hokage. Literally. It's kind of confusing, but this office is the one that actually has everything in it. The office down at the tower only has a spacial seal on it that allows all of the non-living things in here, be accessed in the office down in the village. I turn the seal off every night, and it's as if the office is completely empty. One more thing, everything placed in that office will automatically be transported here." Sarutobi said, knowing that it would give an idea to Naruto.

"That... was confusing." Naruto said, but knowing that seals can do that. Hell, from what he learned from Jiraiya, seals can do just about anything.

"Yes, I know. But learn a little bit more, and you could understand it completely. Hell, it was your father that made the system." Saurtobi said.

"Wow. I have my work cut out for me." Naruto said.

"Yes, you do." Sarutobi said. "Now go and rest. Today's the second day of the exam, and already 5 teams have passed. I have a feeling that there will be preliminary rounds before you leave the tower, and I want to see a good fight from you."

"Got it, Oji-san." Naruto smiled, and exited the door.

Once the door closed, Hiruzen then proceeded to bang his head on the paper repeatedly saying "Baka" each time he hit his head. (1)

–

Final day of the exam, time: 1454 hours.

During the past two days, Naruto and Hinata couldn't even be in the same room without blushing at each other.

Now they had to stand near each other, as the last of the participants lined up in their teams.

All in all, 8 teams had passed. The remaining three teams had staggered in on thefinal day as none of the other teams came in on day 3 or 4.

Among them was team 7, team 8, team Gai, team 10, Team Kabuto, Team 3 from Suna, Team Sound, and a team from Amegakura, an unknown and Kageless village.

As the clock hit 1500 hours, the time that the exam started 5 days ago, The hokage came forward. "Welcome all who passed the second exam." He eyed all of them equally. "As with the tradition, I shall tell you all the true reason why we have the chuunin exams."

This had a majority of the gennin confused.

"Long ago, we had no way to determine which village had the strongest shinobi. Wars broke out many times, and many innocent died in their wake. After the third great shinobi war, the five great hidden villages made a contract." He paused. "The contract was to have the chuunin exam hosted by one of the five great nations, and members from each village would be allowed to join, as well as any minor villages. This had two effects. One, that each nation would be able to test their shinobi strength against others. Two, chuunins were selected from the best of the best." (2)

"So," Naruto said, "the chuunin exams are all mini wars between their own villages?"

The hokage nodded. "Yes, that is it exactly. So, in that regard. You are all representing your own villages. Make them proud of you." The hokage stopped. He paused to think. _'One Ame team. One sound team...' _ The hokage smiled. _'And 6 konoha teams. I hope we prove to be a more quantity then quality.'_ He looked over to team 8. _'Then again, that team might just show us a whole new level.'_ "One month from now..." The hokage was cut off from a little coughing.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Hokage-sama. May I please ask for the floor?" A sick man with a sword on his back asked.

"Yes you may, Hayate-san." The hokage took a step back.

"Hello. I am your proctor for the third exam. My name is Gekkō Hayate. Before we move on to the third exam though, we will be performing a preliminary exam, right here."

"WHAT!?" Sakura yelled out. "We just got out of the woods. You seriously can't expect us to fight right away!"

"Sorry, but those are the rules. If you don't like it, blame the two teams who got here on the first day." The man said as he gestured to both team 8 and team Suna.

Several teams looked at the two teams that were pointed out. Team Suna they understood. All of the members looked prepped and ready for a major battle. (Coughhinthintcough)

Then they looked to Team 8. All three member's hoods were up, so their faces were hidden. They looked secretive, but body language was still readable somewhat.

The easiest was the one in the dark blue trench coat in the middle. She was looking down at the ground, and he hands were holding each other at the waist.

The next was the one in the black trench coat, at the front of the line. His hands were in his coat's pockets, and his body posture screamed tense. _'Why did he have to say that in front of everyone!?'_ He thought.

The hardest to read was the one in the grey coat. He just stood there, but a few body language readers, a.k.a. Neji, Lee, and Sasuke, knew that the boy was slightly tensed.

"Anyways, Anko-san, if you would please." The proctor called out.

"Right, open it up boys!" She yelled at the observation deck. The man nodded, and flicked a switch near him.

A screen appeared. "This screen here will randomly select two opponents from the group. It will be a 1 on 1 fight until your opponent gives up, dies, or I call the match. Other then that, there are no rules. Now, before we continue, does anyone here want to give up, or you feel like you can't fight?"

None of the contestants raised their hands.

"Right, let the preliminary rounds begin!"

The screen flashed several names until two showed up.

"Tsurugi Misumi v. Inuzuka Kiba"

"Okay, will everyone but the two selected go up to the observation decks?" Hayate asked, but really commanded.

The two leaf ninja stayed behind as the rest went up to the decks above.

"You ready to get pounded!" Kiba yelled at his opponent, and put Akamaru down on the ground next to him.

"Hmph. You'll be the one that is beaten. Not I." The leaf ninja had on black pants and tank top with a white shirt underneath. He had on black fingerless gloves with metal protectors on them. The lower half of his face had a black cloth covering it. He had glasses on over his black eyes.

"Are both contestants ready?" They both nodded. "HAJIME!" He brought his hand down.

Kiba jumped back with Akamaru at his side. "Stay here buddy, I'll finish this off quickly." He got down into his dog stance. "TSUUGA!" He yelled out as he ran forward and then started turning very fast. His claws lengthened when he started spinning fast enough.

The swirling tornado went straight for the other leaf ninja. "That's fast." The ninja said. "But not fast enough." He quickly jumped out of the way, only to see the Tsuuga bounce off the ground, and the head straight towards him. This was not good.

He decided to play it safe, and let his opponent wear himself out. Unfortunately, that was easier said then done, as every time he stopped moving the Tsuuga would be right on him.

"Is this the only technique you know?" The man taunted. That worked. _'He's over confident.'_

The boy stopped spinning, and landed on the ground with ease. He hopped back to his place next to Akamaru. "Not really. I do have something special. Ready Akamaru?" He held up two soldier pills.

_'What's he doing?'_ Naruto wondered. He had heard that the Inuzuka worked with dogs. Hell, he knew the boy personally, but he had never seen Akamaru fight with him.

The dog barked, and Kiba gave one to his dog, and then took one himself.

"You think I'll give you time to get ready!" The enemy said as he ran at Kiba. He quickly latched onto the boy in a death hug. The man's arms wrapped around the boy even more. "Hehe, surprised? I got a special surgery that lets me bend my body beyond normal limitations. What do you have to counter this, huh?"

The dog boy didn't say anything, as his bones were being crushed bit by bit. The boy looked ready to pass out, but just as he was ready to go, Kiba smiled, and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

The man looked surprised. Suddenly, two Kibas appeared behind the man.

"Jūjin Bunshin!"_(Man beast clone!)_ One of the Kibas yelled out, and slashed at the man.

The man jumped forward to avoid the claws, and then turned around quickly only to get a smoke bomb in his face. The smoke covered the entire floor, and the spectators watched carefully for any sign of something happening.

"GATSUUGA!" They heard kiba yell out, and after many hits to the ground, a gushy sound was heard, and a scream as well. The other shinobi was thrown out of the smoke with a big wound on his stomach.

_'Hmm, smart dog. He switched with Akamaru the moment the attacker went at him. Akamaru was in no danger, as the dog was super powered with energy to keep him from getting crushed. Then he had Akamaru quickly change forms again, and well, the rest is history.'_ Naruto thought.

Hayate quickly approached the downed shinobi. He checked for vitals, the man was alive, but badly injured. He motioned a medic team in, and stood up to face the rest of the group. "By knock out of his enemy, Inuzuka Kiba wins." Hayate called out.

Ino cheered for him from above, and Shikamaru just went, "Woohoo." lazily waving his fist in the air.

After The medic team cleared out, and Kiba was congratulated by his teammate Ino. They looked to the board to see who would go next.

The board kept spinning.

And spinning.

After a full minute of the board spinning, Kiba lost his patience, and yelled out, "STOP ALREADY!"

And it did. No slow down, just plain stopped. "Well, that worked..."

"Yakushi Kabuto v. Akadō Yoroi"

They all looked to the two men. Kabuto raised his hand. "I forfeit. I was hoping for an easy match, but I guess I my luck was up. I'm too tired and injured to take my teammate on. Especially when he knows all my moves."

"Winner by forfeit is Akadō Yoroi." Hayate said.

"Sorry about that Yoroi." Kabuto said.

"No problem. I didn't really want to fight you either." Yoroi responded.

The board began randomize the names once more.

Naruto called out, "Round and around it goes. Where it stops? Nobody knows." Several people face faulted at that.

Three seconds later, the board stopped.

"Mubi v. Haruno Sakura"

"Finally it's my turn!" Sakura calls out. She skipped down the steps.

Naruto looked at the board, and the Ame nin that was slowly walking down the steps. He called out to the boy, "What? No surname? C'mon man, the rest of us have a family name!"

"Ah, shut it, kid. Information is very important in a battle. I wouldn't give away my family's name if it meant that you could figure my combat style out." The shinobi said as he finished walking into place. The Ame nin had a breather mask over his face, so it distorted his voice.

Eager to show off in front of Sasuke, she called out to him. "Sasuke-kun" (bleh) "Are you watching me?"

Sasuke replied with a 'hn'.

"If I were you, I'd watch your enemy little girl." The Ame ninja said.

"SHUT UP! Can't you see I'm trying to keep his attention?" Sakura asked.

"Proctor." The ame nin looks to the man. "Could you start the match. I don't think I can hold back any longer."

"You and everyone else." Kakashi whispered. The proctor nodded.

"Are you ready Haruno-san?" She ignored him in her attempts to get Sasuke's attention. A tick mark appeared on Hayate's head. He brought down his hand. "HAJIME!"

"Sakura-san. You might want to-" BAM! "-nevermind." Naruto tried to warn the pinkette, but she got hit over the head.

"OW! You hurt me!"

"Well, duh. It is a match." Mubi replied. "Now that you have your full attention on the battle, maybe we can start." He threw his kunai at Sakura. She dodged it, only to get a kunai in the shoulder.

"What the?" Sakura asked. She looked at the wound. It came from behind, but the enemy threw it from the front. _'What's going on here? I fought these guys back in the forest, but they left us alone in the last second.'_ She thought for a second over their battle. They had jumped them, and there were hundreds of them. The entire team attacked them, but they hit nothing. Every once in a while, they would get a random mark. Luckily for the three, the sun had risen, and the enemy nins had backed off. _'We couldn't figure out how to hit them then. Have to think. Genjutsu?'_ She held up her hand. "KAI!" She received another kunai in her back. She quickly turned around to see nothing. _'Where is it coming from?'_

"Hehehe." A voice echoed through the room. "You can't touch me, but I can touch you." The Ame nin rushed her. They engaged in a light taijutsu. Sakura using kitten glove style, and the Ame nin using an unknown style. Usually, the Ame nin wouldn't engage in close range combat. But... Sakura managed to get a small opening in his attacks.

She reached out to hit him, only for him to dissolve. _'A clone?'_ She turned around quickly, only to get another kunai in the back. She now had three of them stuck in her back. _'C'mon think girl. Think. How is he doing this?'_ She turned again. She caught something. It was quick, but she still saw it. A second Ame Shinobi melting into the floor.

Naruto was watching the battle, and he knew who would win. Sakura was obviously going to get beaten. The Ame nin was a tactician. They don't like close range combat, but they can hold up until the enemy is warn down. And right now, Sakura was playing into his trap. _'She saw him melt into the ground, but it's too late. Her reaction time wont be enough.'_ Sure enough, she tried to catch him again, but she was always to slow.

"C'mon little girl. Give up. You can't win in a real fight." The Ame shinobi taunted.

"I'm not a little girl. I'm a full grown Kunoichi!" she yelled back, obviously losing it.

"What, with breasts like that?" The voice called out again.

She blushed. Ino also blushed, and looked at her own chest. Sakura yelled out. "Come out and fight me! I know I can beat you!"

"Alright." The voice didn't echo this time. "Give up." It was coming from behind Sakura. A kunai held to her neck. Sakura's eyes widened. Never had her life been on the edge like this. She was scared beyond her wits, and her mind couldn't process what to do. It was just like what happened with Orochimaru. Her mind was flying at a hundred miles an hour, yet it wasn't coming to a conclusion about what to do.

Kina shook her head slowly. She knew the girl would break the moment that happened. Nelrim was nearby. He quickly spoke to Naruto using thoughts.

_"Look, Naruto. This is what happens when you fill your mind too much. It's a dangerous path to walk down the mind only."_

Naruto thought for a moment. _"Same with training the body only as well, correct?"_ "_Correct. Now put this in perspective about what Jiraiya told you the day you came here."_

"Proctor. Call the match. She's too out of it to do anything. Look, she even wet herself." The Ame nin said in disgust. The proctor walked over to the girl. He waved his hand in front of her eyes. She didn't respond. The proctor coughed a couple of times.

"Winner Mubi of Amegakura." The Ame shinobi pulled his kunai away slowly, and pocketed it.

"Hmph. I thought that Konoha was great, but this is just weak." He proceeded to walk up the stairs.

The proctor called in a couple of medics to tend to the girl. They carried her off. "Can I have the next match please?" He asked out loud, and the board had begun to spin once more.

"Tsuchi Kin v. Nara Shikamaru" (Please do not blame me, blame the randomizer. 4 out of 5 randomization tries had this match up.) _'Another brainiac. But this one is much smarter and more relaxed then the last one.'_ Naruto thought. _'Let's see how he does this time.'_ (The match goes exactly like in the manga)

"Winner by knock out Nara Shikamaru"

"_So what about this time, Nelrim? As long as I have known the guy, he's too lazy to work out." _Naruto asked.

"_Ah, that's where the differences start working. You haven't seen it, but Shikamaru does train his body. Mostly due to his mother. He also has a calmer mind then anyone I know."_ Nelrim responded. "_So, having a calm and relaxed mind can give you an edge?"_ "_To be blunt... yes. And no. If you're too relaxed, you can be caught by surprised. You need to be calm, but also alert."_ Naruto nodded slowly, and then looked up at the board.

"Higurashi Tenten v. Sabaku no Kankuro"

"Can I have the two contestants come down please?" The proctor called. They both jump into the arena.

"Alright! My turn." Kankuro calls out. He pulls the wrapped up mummy off of his back, and lays it on the ground. "Too bad I have to fight a girl."

Lightning cracks through the air. "What was that, nii-san?" Temari called out.

"Ehehe, nothing."

"So, I have to fight a mime?" Tenten asked. Kankuro face faulted.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MIME!"He quickly got back up.

"You."

"You know, she does have a point." Temari said. "Speaking of, you haven't gotten into my make-up again, have you?"

"Who's side are you on!?" Kankuro yelled out. "It's warpaint. WARPAINT!"

The proctor coughed a bit. "Um, could we get back to the battle here?" he asked.

"Sure, I'm ready." Tenten said.

"I'm ready as well!" Kankuro said.

"HAJIME!"

Immediately, Tenten threw several kunai and shuriken at her enemy. Kankuro responded with a dodge to the right. "Quick on your feet. Are you a clown instead?" Tenten asked, as she threw more weapons at him.

A tick mark appeared on his head. "THIS IS WAR PAINT GODDAMMIT!" He dodged again.

"Right." She held up her hands, and began to pull some thin wires with them. Kankuro noticed the wire, only too late. He got several kunai pulled straight into his back."Got you!" Tenten cheered. A weird sound echoed through the room. Kankuro was still standing up. "What's with you? You should be really hurt. Those were extra sharp kunai!" Tenten said.

Kankuro slowly lifted his head, and smiled. "Those don't work on me." He said slowly, and charged Tenten. Tenten reflexs kicked in, and she threw several weapons at the sand shinobi, and then moved to the left. The Kunai hit the boy dead on, but he didn't even flinch. She decided to see what was going on, so she aimed for his face. The boy didn't dodge, and the kunai hit dead center in between the eyes, forcing his head backwards. A loud thunk echoed through the room. Kankuro slowly brought his head back forward, only for Tenten to see that his face was cracked. Three more kunai hit his face in random places. The mask finally came off, only to reveal a wooden face underneath it. The disguise completely came off, and Tenten was faced with a floating puppet. "Now that's just creepy." Tenten said. She looked over to the chakra strings coming from the puppet. She followed them until she saw the mummified thing sitting against the wall. She smiled, and threw a couple at it. The puppet immediately put itself in between her and the thing."Found you." she said in a sing song tone. She threw a few kunai way off target to the right. The kunai then started turning in midair, and Tenten was using a wire once more. She made it go straight for the mummy.

The puppet attempted to move, but Tenten was holding a wire in her other hand. This one connected to the kunai in the puppet's body. The bandages slipped off the mummified thing, only to reveal that it was Kankuro. He quickly dodged the kunai heading for him. "Tch. I didn't think you would find out so fast." Kankuro said. "No matter, I'll beat you anyways!" The puppet quickly moved towards Tenten. Tenten attempted to move out of the way, but the puppet kept changing it's course.

_'C'mon think. Agh dammit I can't think right now. I need to tie down this puppet before I can think... Wait. That's it!'_ She smiled, and threw several shuriken at the puppet. She pulled on the shuriken to move it in a way that would make them go around the puppet. The shuriken spun several times around the puppet, and then clinged to it. She threw several kunai at the wall nearby, and then charged Kankuro with kunai in hand. The puppet moved to intercept, but the wires were holding it to the wall. Kankuro started to sweat. He dropped the chakra strings, and then moved to get his own kunai. He blocked the kunai strikes from Tenten. Tenten then made a reverse grip with the kunai in her other hand, and slashed outward. Blood appeared on Kankuro's chest. He jumped backward, holding his hand to his chest. He looked at it. It was only a shallow wound. He stood up slowly. The girl was spinning a kunai on one of her fingers.

"Hehe. You're not good in close range combat, are you?" The kunai spinning on her finger was put into a reverse grip. "Then I win." She charged the boy once more, and Kankuro moved to keep out of her attack area. Suddenly, she stopped attacking. Both were a little out of breath, but Tenten was smiling.

"What are you so smug about?" Kankuro asked. "This." She brought her hand up, and pulled it backwards. Kankuro's eyes widened. He quickly thought to dodge, but that was overcome by pain. Several kunai entered his back. Kankuro's eyes widened in pain. Two more kunai entered his chest. Blood spattered Tenten's face. She looked over to the proctor as she let go of the kunai."Proctor call the match. If I wanted to kill him I would've done so just now." Kankuro fell on his side. That was a good thing. If he had fallen on his stomach or back, the kunai would've gone in even further. Or worse, rip the wound open even more. The proctor was going to stop Tenten after that anyway. He had seen the blood on the girl's face. Add that to her sweet smile, and it was just plain creepy.

"Winner by knock out Higurashi Tenten." Medics entered the floor, and picked up the fallen boy. They pulled the kunai out of his back, since they weren't that deep, and then carried him out. Tenten skipped up the stairs with a sweet smile on her face, not that it made her any less creepy.

She passed by Naruto, and she stopped to look at him."Are you going to join the Togatta any time soon?"

Naruto started to sweat, but no one could tell as his face was covered. "Um, still thinking about it."

"Think really well. You don't want to piss of Anko-chan, do you?"

"Point taken." (lame pun)

"Will the two contestants please come to the floor?" The proctor called out. Naruto missed the spinning board, and looked to see the names.

"Rock Lee v. Aburame Shino"

Naruto looked over to Shino, only to see that the boy had already gotten up. "Good luck, Shino! We're rooting for you!"

Hinata also called out, "Good luck, Shino-san!"

Kurenai was happy that her students were looking out for each other. She smiled, and waved at Shino. "Good luck, Shino!"

They didn't know it, but that warmed the boy's heart to know his teammates and sensei were rooting for him.

He walked the rest of the way down, and turned to face Lee standing before him. _'Close range combat specialist. Uses little amounts of chakra. This will be a tough match.'_ Shino brought himself up to a defensive stance. _'Hope I can last long enough.'_

"Are both contestants ready?" They both nodded. "HAJIME!"

Lee rushed at Shino at a speed he hadn't expected. He brought his arms up to block, but somehow the kick sent him flying anyways. _'Blocking doesn't work. I think I should dodge more.'_ He got himself back up. Lee rushed him again. Shino dodged under a kick to his head. Lee kept pushing Shino, as the boy kept dodging. _'I don't see any tricks. This is pure tiajutsu. I don't think I have trained enough to keep up with him.'_ A kick to Shino's side was coming. Shino couldn't dodge it, so he reflexed his arms to block the attack. Shino got himself out of the whole in the wall that was made when he was kicked halfway across the floor. _'I have to hold him off a little more. He doesn't seem to be tiring though.'_ Shino was now confused. He had gotten up twice in this battle without the enemy attacking him while he was vulnerable. "Rock-san, why are you letting me get up?"

"I'm confused."

"Why do you say that?"

"How do you know that stance? It's a defensive stance that only Gai-sensei and I know."

"I got a taijutsu scroll from Naruto. He told me to train, and I'm glad I did." Shino was hoping for a delay. The longer the delay, the easier it will be to beat the boy. "I can see now, that was a good thing to train in."

"I see. Naruto!" Lee called out.

"Yeah?" Naruto responded.

"You look out for your comrades. For that, you have made this match a little more interesting." Lee said.

"Don't thank me yet. The fun is just starting." Naruto smiled.

Shino nodded as well. "Thanks to Naruto, I have been training day in and day out in taijutsu." Shino slowly put his hands together in a ram sign. "KAI!" He brought his hands back down to his side. "Now, come at me."

Lee smiled, and rushed the boy once more. Something seemed different this time. The boy was moving faster then before. Not by a lot, but the boy was no longer worried about dodging his kicks. Shino seemed to be dodging just fine, and even countering every once in a while. Lee backed off from the taijutsu battle. "How are you faster?" Lee asked.

Meanwhile, up in the stands.

Gai whispered to Kakashi. "You don't think."

Kakashi whispered back. "Yeah. Gravity seal. I didn't think they existed still."

"Me neither. Gravity seals usually require a very dexterous hand to apply them." Gai said.

Tenten spoke up. "What are you talking about?"

"Shino has a seal on his body that constantly weighs him down, but his actual weight wont change."

"Soooo, how is that significant?" Tenten asked. "Well, in perspective. It's like the weights Lee uses. Only more efficiently, as it works the entire body, not just his legs." Gai said. "It really depends on how many times the gravity seal was at."

Naruto, at this point got up, and walked over to the group. "He only had it a 2.5x gravity."

Gai looks over to Naruto. He didn't even feel his presence coming up to him. "Oh, and how do you know this?" They couldn't see it beneath the mask, but Naruto smiled. "I'm the one that applied it."

Back down on the ground.

Shino thought about it carefully. "A shinobi never reveals his secrets." Shino said. And then put his hands into a ram sign once more. "KAI!" _'That was the final set of seals. Now I can go all out.'_ Shino brought himself into a defensive stance. "Come. Let's finish this battle." Lee smiled his eye blinding smile, and then rushed Shino. This time, Lee was having trouble getting any attacks in. Every time he attacked, Shino countered it.

He brought a kick up to Shino's head. Shino hopped up, and wrapped his arm around Lee's leg. Shino then did a backflip, and threw Lee with it. When Lee got back up, both contestants were breathing hard. "Good. It seems to finally kicking in." Shino said.

"Wait, what?" Lee asked. He gasped for a little more breath. _'I'm tired this soon? What's going on?'_

Up on the stands.

"So you're the one that applied them?" Kakashi asked. "Yeap." Naruto looked back down to the floor. It seemed Shino was holding on just fine. He noticed something then. "How much weight is Lee wearing?"

"Oh, about 2 tons." Naruto's eyes bugged out. "2 TONS!?"

Gai smiled, and turned back to the battle. "LEE! Take them off!" Gai called out.

Back on the floor.

"Really!?" Lee asked with enthusiasm.

"Yes!" Gai said with his trademarked pose.

Lee rushed backward until he was on the statue of two hands in a ram sign behind the hokage. Lee lifted his leg warmers, and took off a metal weight from each leg. He held them up, and then dropped them. Naruto watched the weights slowly fall to the ground. A large crater was formed from each of the weights. Several people gasped. At this point, Shino knew he was screwed. He was able to keep up just fine before hand, but now, he didn't think he could keep up. Lee moved to jump up, and then disappeared from sight. Shino looked around quickly, but couldn't see the boy. Lee appeared right in front of him, in a kick already moving at high speeds. Shino couldn't react in time. His head got pounded into a wall. The dust cleared to show a knocked out Shino coming off the wall. He landed hard on the floor. The proctor walked up to Shino to see that the boy was out cold.

"Winner by knock out Lee Rock!"

"SHINO!" Naruto called out, and hopped over the rail. He landed on the floor and rushed over to Shino's side. "You okay buddy?" The medics came into the room, and carefully picked the bug boy up. "Wait a second." Naruto called out. He walked over to Lee. "Lee, could you stand still for a second?"

"Sure?" Lee said. Naruto put his hand on Lee's shoulder, and then started to expel some chakra from his hand. Several bugs came to Naruto's hand.

"Thanks."

"Wait.. how did those bugs get on me?" Lee asked.

"Every time you touched Shino, he put a bug on you. He was waiting for the bugs to eat you out, but... well." Naruto walked back up to the bug boy. He put his hand with the bugs on it to the boy, and the bugs crawled off his hand onto Shino. "I'm not even sure if that was all of them. Shino never taught me how to sense his bugs." The medics nodded, and took the Aburame to a medical room.

"That was nice drama and all, but we have a match to continue here." The proctor said.

"Oh, right, sorry." Naruto said, and walked back up with Lee right behind him. The board had already stopped spinning by the time Naruto sat down next to Hinata. Hinata was sad that her friend didn't win. "Don't worry Hinata-chan. He did his best, and we should be proud that he could do so. That, and we'll have to train him ourselves later." Kurenai smiled. She was proud that Shino managed to make Lee take off his weights, and that her students were looking out for each other.

Hinata smiled a little at that. "Yeah, I have a few pointers for him." She paused. "Did you see how fast Lee moved?"

"Yeah, it was just below my top speed, and that means using MK in a straight line. He wasn't moving in a straight line." Naruto said slowly. They looked up to the board.

"Hyuuga Neji v. Sabaku no Gaara"

"Your cousin?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah." Hinata said sadly.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

Hinata looked down. "He and I don't get along very well."

"Why's that?"

"He blames me for his father's death." Hinata said. On the floor The two contestants stared at each other.

"Are you both ready?" Neither of them made any movement.

"HAJIME!" the proctor called out.

Neji immediately went into Jyuuken stance, and flawlessly activated his Byakugan. The first thing he noticed was that there was a seal in the exact same spot that Naruto has it on. His stomach. It was much bigger then any other seal he had ever seen on a human body though. It covered the entire mid section. He put that aside as he had noticed that sand was leaking out of Gaara's jar. Gaara was uninterested in this one. He wanted to fight him. He looked up to Naruto, and sent a glare his way. Neji was curious as to why Gaara and Naruto were staring each other down, but right now he wanted to take advantage of the boy's neglect to stay on task. He rushed forward to attack the boy. 3 feet from him, Neji launched his attack, and a mere 3 inches from the boy's heart, sand stopped his attack. Neji immediately backed away. Gaara's full attention was on him now, and he wanted to see how this 'prodigy', they called him in the reports, would stand up to him. Gaara just stood there.

Neji rushed once more. He wanted to finish this match quickly, and show the main branch that they were all failures.

He would kill Hinata.

His attack was stopped once more. Every strike failing to punch through the sand. Neji was getting ticked. The suna ninja wasn't even breaking a sweat against the enemy's attacks. Neji then changed stances, and called out, "You are in my divination. Hakke: Rokujūyon Shō." _(Eight trigrams: 64 palms)_ Neji rushed towards Gaara faster then anyone could keep up. Two palms hit sand. "Two palms. 4 palms. 8 palms. 16 palms. 32 palms." At this point some of the strikes were going through the sand and hitting Gaara. "64 palms!" the last strike hit home on Gaara's stomach. Gaara was launched backwards, and hit the wall hard. Luckily, his gourd dissolved to take the impact. Gaara slowly got up, and looked straight at the Hyuuga. Neji's eyes were twitching trying to figure something out. Why wasn't the enemy's tenketsu closed up? He clearly hit them, and he saw some of them completely close up, but afterwards Gaara stood right back up, the boy's tenketsu were open again. He saw some weird chakra flowing through the boy's chakra pathways now. It had a yellow glow to it, instead of the normal blue. When Gaara looked straight at Neji, he saw the face of the boy cracked, and fall off into sand.

"You. You might be able to fulfill my existence. By killing you, I might be able to prove I EXIST!" Gaara lifted his hand up, right as the last of the sand armor cracked off to show a sadistic grin. "Sabaku Kyū." _(Sand coffin)_ Sand streamed out from near Gaara, and rushed towards Neji.

Neji moved away from the sand quickly, not wanting to find out what happens if he's caught in it. Suddenly some sand caught his arm. He flinched, and immediately started to let chakra stream out of his body. He spun on his feet, and then called out, "KAITEN!" _(rotation)_ A big blue sphere enveloped around Neji as he spun on his feet. The sand was either split into tiny particles, or sent flying away. When Neji stopped spinning, he stared directly at Gaara.

Hinata was in disbelief. That was the Main family's best defense. Neji making it up on his own proved that he was a prodigy.

Gaara was still smiling. "You. Yes, you are way more interesting then I first believed. Try this! Sabaku Kyū." _(Sand coffin)_ He used both hands this time, and even more sand then last time streamed out towards Neji.

Neji cursed, and moved as quickly as he could. With his eyes he would keep out for anything trying to approach him. He quickly looked to see that Gaara's sand was stretched thin. Neji rushed over to Gaara, and got close enough to make the sand fly up. Neji figured this would happen, and called out, "Kaiten!" _(rotation)_And made the sand shield split apart. Before the sand could come back, Neji then called out, "You are in my divination! Hakke: Rokujūyon Shō." _(Eight trigrams: 64 palms)_ "2 palms." They hit the boy's body. "4 palm. 8 palm. 16 palm. 32 palm! 64 palm!" All of the attack landed, and Neji smirked. He confirmed it this time. All 64 targets were closed. There was no way the Suna shinobi would get back up. "Proctor call the match. He wont get back-"

"Sabaku Kyū." _(Sand coffin)_ Suddenly Neji was completely wrapped up in sand. He was lifted into the air. "Sabaku Sōsō" _(Sand Waterfall Funeral)_ Before the sand could compress, some of the sand exploded out from Neji. It still crushed his legs though. Neji fell down from the air. He pushed himself up, and looked to where the Suna shinobi was. Gaara was on his hands and knees. Blood coming from his mouth. "This warm liquid." He felt his mouth, and then took his hand away from it. "It's my blood!" He screamed, and the sand around him suddenly surged for Neji.

Neji was helpless. _'No! I can't die here! It was my fate to win this match!'_ Suddenly, a green figure intercepted the sand.

"Enough! Hyuuga Neji is down for the count."

"Why? Why do you protect him?" Gaara asked.

"Because, he's my student." Gai said slowly. Neji passed out from the pain.

"Winner by interference Sabaku no Gaara." The proctor called out. "Medics, hurry get out here. This boy's legs have been crushed." A team of medics rushed out to Neji, and get him on a stretcher carefully. A couple of medics wander over to Gaara. Before they could get to him, Temari gets in the way. "It's okay. I'll take care of him." The medics nod, and move to tend to Neji.

She wandered over to her younger brother, and spoke in soothing words. No one could here what she said, due to all the commotion coming from the medics, but Naruto could understand she was trying to calm the boy down. Suddnely, Gaara looked straight to Naruto. "I will kill you, Uzumaki Naruto." And then stood up slowly. He wandered over the the stairs and moved up them slowly.

"Now that the drama is over, can I have the next match please?" The proctor asks. The group looked up to the board to see the next contestants.

"Kagari v. Hyuuga Hinata"

"Hehe, this will be a cinch." Kagari said. He, like his teammate, wore a breather that distorted his voice. They Ame ninja wore a lighter color then his teammate though.

Naruto looked over to his teammate. "I know you can win Hinata-chan. Go get them."

"Oh, I will. I've been wanting to show you what I can do for a long time now." Hinata smiled. She hopped down to the lower levels. She stood to face her enemy for this round.

Kurenai wondered how Hinata would do. She knew that the girl had been training in private, but to what extent, she didn't know. "Are both contestants ready?" They both nodded. "HAJIME!" Hinata seallessly activated her Byakugan. Something was different about her stance though. She still stood in a horse stance, but her arms were lowered to her waist. Her hands were in half ram signs each. "Hm? Your stance is different then the normal Jyuuken. It wont matter, you wont be able to touch me." The ninja said. Hinata smiled.

"Come at me then." The ninja threw his kunai at her, but she didn't move. The kunai hit her, and then dissolved. Another kunai flew right above her head. If she had dodged, she would have been hit. That's the mistake Sakura made. Hinata then moved across the field.

She knew how the enemy was attacking."You better have some new tricks. You wont win that way." She stopped, and then slammed her fingers into the ground. Again, and again. She smiled even more, and then punched the ground. "Give up now, or you will suffer the consequences."

"Never." a voice echoed. Hinata knew that was coming.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you." A wave of chakra was expelled from her hand, and a second later, Kagari was thrown into the air from out of nowhere. Before anyone could blink, Hinata was with him in the air. "You are in my divination. Yoken Ryuchouhigeki Shō!" _(Foresight: Flowing strike)_ Her hands flowed over the enemy, but never touched him. "3 strikes. 6 strikes." Her strikes didn't go in and out like the Jyuuken's palm. Instead, her hands seemed to move like a stream across the enemy's body. The strikes sent chakra waves out the other side of his body. "12 strikes. 24 strikes. 48 strikes." The strikes suddenly got very fast. Faster then even Naruto could keep up. "96 strikes!" The final hit was a double slash across the boy's torso, and he was thrown backwards. When all was said and done, Hinata landed gracefully on the ground, and her enemy collapsed against the ground like a rag doll. "Proctor call the match. If he doesn't get help soon, he will die."

The proctor walked up to the boy, and saw that his clothes were torn up, and chakra burns all across his torso. He saw blood coming from the boy's mouth. "Winner by knock out Hyuuga Hinata."

The room was speechless. Suddenly Naruto yelled out. "THAT WAS COOL! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT HINATA-CHAN!"

Hinata blushed a little. _'Praise from Naruto-kun.'_

The medics rushed in. They were used to what Jyuuken can do to an enemy, but they weren't ready for this. The boy's chakra was leaking out at a rapid pace. Not to mention that the burns on his body were getting worse from over exposure to chakra. Also, it seemed that many of his major organs were ripped up, and would need extensive medical care. One of the medics approached Hinata. "Can you tell us why chakra is leaking out of his system at a rapid pace?"

"Well, that's easy. I destroyed his chakra pathways." Hinata said. The medic's face grew a little sad. "So, he wont be able to be a shinobi anymore?" Hinata shook her head. "I can repair the damage, but I just used up a lot of my chakra. You got any soldier pills?" She had some of course, but they were expensive.

"Of course." He handed one to her, and she took it. She bit down on it, and she felt a bit better. "Okay, give me a second." She walked up to the Ame nin. "Hold him still. He's going to want to move during this." The medics move to restrain the ninja. She put her hand on his heart. A second later, the boy was screaming. After several seconds, the screaming stopped, and Hinata got up. "His chakra pathways are fixed now. I don't know how to help his organs though." She said in an apologetic tone.

"It's okay. You saved us a lot of trouble." The medic answered. Truth be told, the boy would be in surgery for the next 8 hours, but that was the price of a shinobi. The medics moved the boy quickly to an emergency room.

"Now that the field is clear." The proctor started after Hinata went up."Can I have the next match please?"

Hinata approached to where she sat before the match. Suddenly, she was being hugged by Naruto. "Great job out their, Hinata-chan. You looked so amazing!"

Hinata blushed a bit, but managed to get out, "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"Don't thank me, you deserved it."

Kurenai walked up to Hinata. "Great job, Hinata-chan. You outdid my expectations." She beamed at the girl.

"Would the two contestants please come down to the field?" The proctor asked. Naruto looked up to the board. He smiled underneath his mask. "Welp, it looks like it's my turn!"

"Good luck, Naruto-kun!" Hinata said back.

"I don't need luck!" Naruto said. Kina hopped down from Naruto's shoulder to emphasize the point. Kurenai smiled, and looked up to the board.

"Uzumaki Naruto v. Kinuta Dosu"

Naruto hopped down to the floor. Dosu did as well. It was the same shinobi that had attacked the snake smelling boy. What confused Naruto is that Dosu had a hint of snake as well. _'What's with all these people smelling like a snake. Is my nose off?'_ Naruto wondered. Naruto looked Dosu over. He had on a special device on his arm, and his face was wrapped in mostly bandages. _(If you don't know who this guy is, he's the one that beat Chouji in the manga)_

Dosu looked Naruto over. Black. That's all he could describe Naruto as. Black hooded trench coat. Black fingerless gloves. Black sandals. Black face mask. He couldn't see a single thing that defined this 'naruto'. He had remembered that the boy was a sage, but he could already counter it. "Heh, can this shorty seriously take me on?"

The rest of the room cringed waiting for Naruto to yell back. Everyone, except Hinata, was surprised. "Can this humpback seriously take me on?" Naruto countered.

Jaws dropped. For years, Naruto has always been yelling at people for calling him short. Now, he was calm and collected. Several of the remaining konoha ninja were calling out "KAI" to release a genjutsu that wasn't there. Even Kakashi was calling it out. Kurenai just laughed at the scene.

Of course, calling the sound shinobi a humpback was just like calling chouji fat. "WHY YOU IGNORANT LITTLE BRAT! I WILL KILL YOU! PROCTOR START THE MATCH!"

"HAJIME!" Naruto did three handseals. The sound shinobi rushed at Naruto. He punched the air before Naruto. (3)

"…"

Nothing happened. "What? Why isn't it working?" Dosu asked. He looked at his device.

Naruto smiled. "I know exactly how that little device of yours works. When you push chakra into your arm, it makes the chakra go supersonic, and then forces it out of your hand, creating a massive body destroying sonic boom. Unfortunately, sound needs to travel through air, and," Naruto was holding up one half of a ram sign, "that can't happen in a vacuum." This was one of the first techniques that Naruto learned from the scroll of the gods. "It's called 'Fūton: Mamori Kuuhaku no Jutsu.'"_(Wind: Vacuum defense jutsu)_ "As you can see, your attack is now nullified."

Dosu got angry, "AGGH!" He threw another punch at Naruto. And another. And another. Nothing happened. "Arg, If I can't use my sound, I'll just attack you directly, weakling!" He rushed at Naruto. He fist made contact with Naruto. Or so he thought, until he saw that Naruto vanished from the point around his hand. Before he could react at all, he was thrown into a nearby wall. Standing five feet from where Dosu had attacked to the right of him, Naruto was standing there with his arm outstretched and a fist at the end.

Hinata saw this all. Naruto hadn't even touched the sound shinobi, and yet the boy acted like he had taken a direct hit from Naruto. The ground where Naruto had stood at the beginning of the match was destroyed. Naruto stood up, and moved closer to Dosu. He moved to four feet from where the sound ninja was stuck in the wall. Naruto lifted his hand up into a striking position. He punched the air, and a large impact sound echoed through the room. The wall cracked around Dosu. Naruto punched again. The wall cracked once more. Another punch, and Dosu's body was sent through the wall, and out of the building.

The proctor's jaw dropped. _'That was 4 inches of solid concrete. Naruto forced Dosu through 4 inches of concrete!'_ The proctor caught himself, and rushed over to the hole in the wall. He looked outside. 30 feet from the wall, lay Dosu's prone body. He walked outside, and checked the boy out. He nodded, and whistled. A medic team came rushing through the hole in the wall. He walked back to his spot in the building. He looked over to the hokage. He looked at the old man as he said, "Winner by literal knock out Uzumaki Naruto." He walked back to the medics who were checking the damage on the boy. "So what's the damage?"

"5 broken ribs, a fractured hip, fractured 5 vertebrae all next to each other, a fractured right knee, ruptured spleen, one of the lungs has been punctured, and his shoulder's are both dislocated." The medic responded.

The proctor nodded. "Carry on." He walked back to his normal spot. "Due to damage to the building, we are taking a break before the next matches. Please be back in 30 minutes. Would all jounin please stay here?" The jounin nodded.

Naruto looked over to Hinata. "Let's go check on Shino."

She nodded, and stood up. She hopped down from the railing, and landed next to Naruto. "By the way, you looked awesome yourself."

Naruto blushed a little. "Thanks, Hinata-chan."

Hinata's thoughts went up at that moment. _'I wonder if he realizes he's been saying my name more.'_

Kurenai stopped them. "Be sure to be back in 5 minutes before the matches start. And remember, you can't leave the building."

"Hai, Kurenai-sensei." They both responded, and they walked out of the room.

–

In the medic hallway They walked up to a medic shinobi. "Where is Shino?" Naruto asked.

The medic shinobi pointed to a door nearby. "He just woke up. Don't let him get up though. His skull took a nasty hit, and it will be a week before his collar bone will heal up." They nodded, and walked into the room. Laying down in bandages, was a shirtless Shino. Holes were all over Shino's body. Even his arms. Neither of them were shocked by the sight though. They knew about the holes being used to let the bugs in and out of his body.

"You feeling okay, Shino?" Hinata asked. "Other then my head feeling like it was dunked into acid, and my shoulder burning such an intense heat that it could rival hell... Yeah, I'm feeling fine." Shino said.

Both of the visitors sweat dropped. "Did... did you hear a sarcastic remark?" Naruto asked.

"Nope. I'm pretending not to hear that." Hinata said.

"Good." Shino said deeply. His voice returned to normal. "So, have you done your matches yet?" They both nodded. "They by looking at you both, I assume you both won?"

"Yeah. Both of our matches were pretty easy. Hell, Hinata here almost killed her opponent." Naruto said.

"At least I didn't punch my opponent through a wall." Hinata giggled. Shino raised his eyebrows at that.

"Hey, take it easy. I didn't think that I would destroy the wall." Naruto said. "Heck, I didn't think it would even crack badly."

Hinata lifted her hand up to Naruto's arm. "Someone doesn't know his own strength." Hinata teased. She squeezed the muscle to prove her point... or to feel him up, either will do.

Shino smiled, and then frowned. "Sorry that I lost my match." "Hey, it's no problem. You are weakest against taijutsu experts. Heck, after he took off his weights, even I wouldn't be able to keep up with him." Naruto said. "'Sides, all that means is that you get another 6 months to train, and surprise our sensei again."

Shino looked up at that.

"Kurenai-sensei was very proud of you, Shino-san. We're proud of you, Shino-san." Hinata said.

"Thanks. I needed that." Shino said, his voice softer then normal.

Naruto smiled. "What are friends for? So, you need anything, or are you comfortable?"

"Yes, I'm very comfortable at the moment, but I seem to be missing some of my kikai." Shino said. "I tried to get them off of Lee, but I can't detect them." Naruto said. "No problem." They felt a weak chakra pulse. "There. My bugs will be back in due time." Shino said.

Hinata tapped Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto we have to get back."

"Already?"

Hinata nodded her head. "It took us 15 minutes to find this part of the tower. We've been here for 6 minutes."

"Crap. Sorry, we gotta go, buddy." Naruto said. "No problem. You better tell me how Chouji does." Shino said. "Got it." He looked over to Hinata. "Let's go."

–

Tbc...

1, I saw this in several fanfics, and I wanted to add it. Not original, I know, but hey, it's funny in my opinion.

2, Yes, I know this isn't what he really said, but it felt right writing it this way.

3, I was so tempted to cut off here, just to be a dick.

Soooo, what do you think? Were the battles okay? I mean this is my first time writing fight scenes that had no base to them. These were made directly in my head. Seriously, I need help making fight scenes, and if you could please help me out, I would appreciate it. I don't care if it's a rant or a rave. Sorry the battles seem kinda short, but for some strange reason, I just can't think of a way to make them longer. 'Sides, I don't like making battles seem long anyways. Always ruins the mood. I did give you guys a hint about what Naruto and Hinata can do at this point. I will say this though, I already have the chuunin exams all thought up. They'll be better then my mediocre fight scenes... hopefully.

Omake: Prank wars Part 3

1 month 6 days to chuunin exams

Naruto was lounging around. He already had his counter prank up, and he was waiting for Kina to finally unleash her next 'masterpiece'. Naruto just shrugged at that, but he had no doubt it would be a village level prank. Suddenly, he heard his trap spring. Naruto bounced up off the couch, and ran into the bathroom. Naruto laughed. "Got you, Kina-chan!" Naruto yelled out. Kina was currently hanging by her tail by a rope. All around her were signs that says, "Hit pinata here!"

Kina chuckled. "I already got my prank off Naruto." Naruto looked at Kina with narrowed eyes. He quickly went to his window, and hopped up onto the roof. He gasped.

The ANBU head quarters

"OH MY GOD! IT'S ALL PINK! GET IT OFF ME!" A random male ANBU yelled in the hallways. Of course this wouldn't bother the girls... nope they got tarred and feathered instead. Yeap, the women turned into chicks, and the guys turned pink. It was a day in hell. But it wasn't over yet. Yes, the entire building turned pink, yes ALL the ANBU stationed there got hit. But more was to come. A tick was heard throughout the headquarters. Everyone went wide eyed.

"GAAAAAAAAAH!" "EEEEEEEEK!"Screaming was heard throughout the headquarters.

Naruto snapped his fingers, and a couple of seals activated. Kina was suddenly on the roof. "Kina what did you do?" Naruto asked.

"Well, for the guys... do you know what a permanently locked on jock strap is?" Kina asked.

"Do I want to know?" Naruto asked slowly.

"No you don't... And for the girls... well... Let's just say they're giving the guys a good show." Kina laughed menacingly. Naruto slowly backed away from Kina.

End... ?

Omake: The "GET NARUTO ON OUR CLAN!" festival. Part 1

Naruto was running for his life. Why? You might ask. Well..

"GET BACK HERE NARUTO! IT WONT HURT AT ALL!" An overjoyed Tenten called out. She was chasing him with... well, a nice long wooden spear.

"No way! I don't want you near me with that thing!" Naruto yelled back.

"Oh, c'mon, Naruto-kun! You know you want to!" Tenten said. They were currently running on rooftops, and tree to tree.

"NO! I don't!" Naruto yelled back.

"I wont hurt you at all!" Tenten called out.

"I don't believe you, and I'm no pervert!" So how did it get to be like this?

Thirty minutes earlier.

Naruto was walking by the hot springs. He had wanted to enjoy a little hot bath to relax his aching muscles... and to get away from Nelrim. The bastard was running him down tp the ground, LITERALLY! He could still feel his chakra tunnels killing him. Naruto walked out of the locker room with nothing but a towel on. He tested the water a little. It was nice and warm. He slowly entered all the way, and sat back to relax. He threw the towel off to the side. About three minutes later, Naruto's ears twitched. He thought he heard some perverted laughter coming from a girl.

He heard words, they were faint, but they were there. "Oh my god, it's so long." A girl whispered. "Yeah, look at the staff portion. Isn't it nice?" Another girl said. "Oh, yeah. And I love the tip." The other girl said. "It's has a nice color." Another giggle.

Naruto was wondering what they were talking about. "Who's there?"

"Naruto, are you there?" He recognized Tenten's voice.

"Yeah. You girls having a Togatta meeting?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, we were inspecting something. Want to join us?" Anko called out.

"I think I'll pass." Naruto deadpanned. _'When will they get the fact that I'm not perverted!'_ Naruto sighed. "What are you inspecting this time?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, it's a new spear Tenten got. Wanna see?" Anko said. "Sure." Naruto said.

A spear was thrown over the fence. Naruto caught it easily. The spear was 6 feet long with a 7 inch blade on one end, and a small 1 inch spike on the other end. It had a dark blue color on the wood, and the metal was painted black. Naruto whistled. "Nice spear. It's a bit heavy, but well balanced." He threw it back.

"Yeah, it's a nice long spear." Anko said. They went back to their whispering and giggling. Naruto got out after 15 minutes. Naruto might have endurance, but he always got a little dizzy staying in too long. He got dressed, and headed out the other side.

Just as he was about to cross the river, Tenten called out to him. "HEY, Naruto!" Naruto turned around to see Tenten in her normal clothes, and holding her spear. "Naruto-kun, I have an idea." Tenten cooed.

Naruto sweat dropped. "W-what is it this time?"

"If you let me cut your clothes off with this, I'll let you strip me." Tenten said in a seductive tone.

Naruto ran off in the other direction. And just like that, we get to the beginning of this little tale.

"GET BACK HERE NATUO!"


	15. Chapter 15: End of prelims

Disclamer: If I actually owned Naruto, he would be a badass in the cannon. The Ocs I do own ARE badass.

Vote poll: It's still open guys, and last time I checked I have had 20 unique votes. Choice one is currently winning with choice three at a close second. Keep it up guys, the poll will close in two chapters.

Vote details are at the top of chapter 12.

A/N: I just realized that when I did that trick for the last chapter, I lost all accents on the letters for techniques. This time you will see the accents.

Now on to the fic.

–

Chapter 15: End of preliminaries

"Naruto-san. Hinata-chan." Kurenai said as the two approached her. "You're late." They were back in the room for the fights. "The matches will be starting in 1 minute I told you to be here 4 minutes ago."

Naruto chuckled nervously. "Uh, sorry about that. This tower is like a maze in certain parts."

Kurenai sighed. "Well, at least you made it before the fights."

Naruto chuckled again, and sat down against the wall. Hinata joined him. "Hey, Hinata-chan."

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"How did you manage to get your enemy into the air? All you did was pulse some chakra." Naruto asked.

Hinata giggled. "That's easy. I pushed some chakra under his feet. The chakra acted like a repellent, and sent him back up to the surface. I grabbed his shoulder when he was in range, and threw him up."

"Oh, I guess I didn't see that part." Naruto said. "Still, I loved that technique. It's somewhat similar to mine."

"Not really. Yours makes a field of impact energy a split millisecond after you punch, mine creates a wave of chakra, and flies through the enemy. Another difference is distance. I noticed that with yours you can be... 5 feet was it?"

"Yeah."

"Mine has to be 3 inches at most. Any farther and the technique wont do the damage necessary." Hinata says.

"So, you're still a close range fighter?" Naruto asked.

"Pretty much." Hinata said. "But I'm working on a new technique. Hopefully it will be ready for the third exam."

A cough was heard, and everyone turned their attention to the proctor. "Okay, the rest period is up."

Naruto looked around. The room was repaired, and even the hole in the wall was gone.

"Can I have the next match please?" The proctor asked.

All present looked to the board. It started to spin, and after about 30 seconds of long anticipation the board stopped.

"**Oboro v. Uchiha Sasuke"**

"About damn time." Oboro said as he disappeared into the wall behind him, and reappeared on the floor.

"Good luck, Sasuke-kun." Sakura cooed.

At that Sasuke smiled. A puppy died. "I don't need luck."

"OH, SOOO cool." Sakura said.

"Go get him, Sasuke-kun!" Ino yelled out.

"Yeah, Sasuke-kun rules!" Sakura yelled out.

Naruto held his hands up to his face. "BOO! Sasuke sucks! He's a prick! Get him off the stage! We want Naruto!" He felt everyone staring at him. "What?"

The Hokage chuckled. _'I knew that prankster side didn't die.'_

Hinata giggled. "Silly."

Both Sakura and Ino predictably went "BAKA!" and then looked at their idol.

Sasuke went "Hn." And got into place on the floor.

"Are both contestants ready?" Hayate asked.

Oboro nodded, but Sasuke stayed stagnant.

"HAJIME!"

Sasuke leaped back, and then pulled out three kunai.

He already knew the trick that this boy's allies used, but he wasn't going to let his guard down about that. He activated his Sharingan.

A second later, Sasuke fell to the floor.

Naruto deadpanned. "I told you, but did anyone listen? Noooo."

Sasuke gripped his shoulder, and then deactivated his Sharingan. _'I can't use my copy wheel eye here. This damned mark on my shoulder keeps acting up.' _Sasuke thought. He stood back up, and then went to look at his opponent. He knew that wasn't the real one, so he started to look around.

A kunai went into his back. He turned around, and threw them quickly, missing the enemy in the floor by just a little. Sasuke smiled. He activated his Sharingan for a split second to see the enemy's technique. He smiled, and then deactivated them quickly before he could get hurt.

Sasuke looked around slowly, suddenly a cry was let out.

Everyone's gaze turned to see the Ame shinobi laying on the floor with a kunai in his back. The shinobi quickly pulled off a hand sign, and disappeared into the floor.

After a few seconds of silence, and Sasuke just standing there, a crash was heard, and the audience looked back to near the hokage. On the floor at his feet was Sasuke holding down the other shinobi, and a kunai to his neck. "Give up."

"H-how did you get me? You didn't move at all!" The Ame shinobi said.

"You're not the only one who can sneak underground. I copied your technique, and then used it against you. I put a bunshin in place so as to alert you."

"Fine, I forfeit." The shinobi said.

"Winner by forfeit Uchiha Sasuke." The proctor called out.

"Go Sasuke-kun!" The two moro- Uh, I mean idio- Uh... fangirls. Yeah, that's right. That makes perfect sense.

"I knew you could do it!" Ino said.

"You're awesome, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura chanted.

"BOO! He SUCKS! He couldn't beat the enemy without copying! He SUCKS!" Naruto felt the stares again. "What?"

"BAKA!" Both of the fangirls run up to him and hit him.

"Ow! Just for that, I'm pulling a prank on Sasuke!" He snapped his fingers.

"YEOW!" Sasuke yelled out. Sasuke was pulled into the air... by his poke-dotted underwear. A small metal hook was attached to the rim of his undies, and a wire going up to the ceiling. On the ceiling was Kina pushing on a seal.

The fox chuckled, and went back down to Naruto. "_Genius, Naruto-kun. You distracted everyone with __your booing, and you attached a metal hook to his underwear before the match even started. After the match ended, you created a seal on the roof, and a wire hooked up to the metal hook. You're getting better and better at sneaking around you little fox."_ Kina laughed mentally.

"_I only learn from the best."_ Naruto said back.

Several reactions happened to this. One, the two fangirls had a nosebleed. Two, several people, including the hokage and the proctor laughed. Three, all foreign ninjas secretly noted not to piss Naruto off.

Once the laughter died down, and Sasuke cutting the metal wire off, secretly vowing to kill Naruto, the proctor coughed a bit, and then asked, "Can I have the next match please?"

_'Only Ino, and chouji are left from konoha. The other two are Temari, and that last sound ninja.'_ Naruto mental counted people off.

The board stopped.

"**Abumi Zaku v. Akamichi Chouji."**

Naruto smiled. "Go Chouji!"

Ino yelled out as well. "Yeah, Go Chouji! Show that sound shinobi who's boss around here!"

Both Chouji and Shikamaru both sighed mentally. _'With your bossy attitude, you might as well kill everyone here with that screechy voice.'_ Shikamaru thought.

"I get to fight! Finally!" Zaku said, and jumped down. Both of his arms were in slings. He looked at his opponent. "What? I have to fight this lardo?"

Ever Konoha shinobi tensed. Even Sasuke.

"What did you call me?" Chouji asked in a low tone.

"I just called you fat. What are you going to do about that?" Zaku said.

Naruto shook his head. _'Dead man walking.'_

"Are both contestants ready?" The proctor asked. Chouji just stared silently, while Zaku nodded happily, completely unware of the doom to come.

"HAJIME!"

"Bubun Baika no Jutsu"_(Partial expansion justu)_ BAM!

One second Zaku was standing getting ready to charge, the next he's in a crater in the wall. "Did anyone get the number on that fist?" He said deliriously.

"Nikudan Sensha!" _(Human bullet tank)_ Chouji called out, and slammed into his opponent.

Everyone cringed. The poor sound shinobi was first hit into the wall by an enlarged fist from chouji. Now he was rammed into the wall again by the Akamichi's most destructive technique.

Naruto slowly shook his head. "You piss of an Akamichi, you might as well just run. Whatever is left of that sound shinobi will probably be a pulp."

After a dead silence, Chouji deflated his technique, and walked back from his work.

The proctor walked up to the crater in the wall. The proctor cringed, but stuck his hand in. Everybody waited in silence. The proctor shook his head. "Winner by knock out Akamichi Chouji."

All foreign shinobi silent added Akamichi to the "Do not piss off" list.

Chouji walked back up to his place by Shikamaru. "I'm not fat. I'm big-boned." Chouji steamed.

"And a good friend." Shikamaru said lazily. He always knew how to defuse the Akamichi.

"Thanks." Chouji's voice sounded lighter. He looked back to the floor.

Several medics had come into the room, and were peeling the almost dead sound shinobi out of the wall. "How bad is he?" The proctor asked after they checked the idio- Uh, I mean unfortunate victim.

The medics sighed. "We thought the ones done in by Hinata and Naruto was bad, but this is worse. All of his major organs are damaged to some extent. A lot of his bones are destroyed as well. He will live... but no longer as a shinobi."

The proctor walked back out to the middle of the floor. "The sound shinobi lives... barely."

Chouji sighed in relief. Yes, he wanted to hurt the enemy, but not kill him. "Glad that's over." Chouji said.

The proctor looked at the final two opponents. "Will the final two, please come down here?"

Temari got up, and walked down do the floor. Ino did as well. "Alright, It's my turn now!" Ino yelled out.

Both blondes stared at each other.

"Are both contestants ready?" The proctor asked.

Both nod.

"HAJIME!"

Ino jumps back, and throws a couple of kunai at Temari. They both missed. "What?" She threw two more.

Tenten watched the kunai's path. _'They're both on path. Ino has a good throwing hand. Why are they __changing paths? There's no wind in her- Oooooh, I get it.'_ She said mentally.

"Fine if those wont work." Ino said, and charged Temari. She knew enough taijutsu to fight an enemy on.

Suddenly she was thrown back. Ino sat up, and looked to see that Temari hadn't moved at all, but her fan was partially open.

"You see this?" Temari said as she brought her fan forward. "There is one moon now. When you see three, you will be defeated."

Ino saw this as a real threat. If she couldn't get close, and her kunai throwing was off for some reason, how was she going to defeat her?

Ino thought it over for a second and smiled. She brought her hands up into a strangle sign.

"Ah, Shikamaru? Get off your butt and look at this." Chouji said to Shikamaru.

He got up, and looked down to see the battle. "Ugh. What is she thinking?"

"I don't know."

Temari was confused. Ino had brought her hands up into a strange formation. A circle was made by two of her fingers and thumbs. The rest of her hands were fanned out.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!"_(Mind-body switch technique)_ Ino called out, and a spring sound was heard.

Temari dodged. Ino slumped to the floor. Temari slowly walked up to the konoha blonde. "Stupid girl. I know all about the Yamanaka family." She was now two steps from from the girl.

Suddenly Ino lunged for Temari's throat. Temari backed up quickly and activated her wind technique. _'She pretended! Stupdi stupid stupid! I should have remember never to trust a down ninja!'_ She hit herself mentally, and swung her fan in a powerful arc. A second moon appeared.

Ino was hit by the fan in a solid impact. Ino was thrown to the side, but not before managing to plunge a couple of kunai into the Suna Kunoichi's body.

Temari quickly assessed her wounds. One in the right shoulder, and the other in her side near the lower left ribs. She breathed lightly, as breathing deeply would hurt her. "You stupid bitch!" She yelled out, and swung her fan with her good arm.

Unfortunately for Ino, Temari is left handed.

A third moon appeared on the fan as wind technique spewed out as the fan waved. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!"_(Sickel weasel jutsu!)_

A gust of wind hit Ino dead on. Her body was sliced up as Temari walked to the center of the room. Temari folded her fan up, and slammed it into the ground. Ino landed on top of it, her clothes barely holding on.

The proctor watched it all, and decided that Ino couldn't continue... and that she would be in back pain for a while. "Winner by knock out Sabaku no Temari."

"Would all of the winning contestants please come down?" The proctor asked. A couple of medics cam out, and took Ino to the back rooms. Temari stood where she was, and took out the kunai. A medic came by and patched her up. She was told not to move the arm for two weeks, and was to go to the hospital in town to get the bandages changed in three days.

Kiba, Yoroi, Mubi, Shikamaru, Tenten, Lee, Gaara, Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke, Chouji, and Temari all lined up on the floor.

"First off, Congratulations on passing the preliminaries. You have all done well so far. Secondly, we must now pick out how the match ups for the third exam will begin." The proctor said.

"Before you go on, Hayate-san, may I say something?" and old voice asked.

"Of course, Hokage-sama." The proctor stood to the side as the Hokage came forward.

"There is one last thing you should all know. The winner of this tournament will not automatically become a chuunin. And someone who loses in the first round could become a chuunin." The hokage said. "In short, all or none of you could be selected for promotion. It all comes down to how you prove yourselves to be a chuunin."

The room was silent. The message was clear. Go all out every battle, and fight smartly every time. Or else.

"Now, Anko-san. If you please?" The proctor asked.

Anko came forward with a box.

"In this box are random balls. There are rules about this. Do not switch out any numbers, do not cheat, do not try to gain a favorable number. We will know if you do, and you will be automatically disqualified." The proctor said. He motioned Naruto to start, and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.

Naruto walked up, stuck his hand in, and pulled out a ball with a number on it. He called it out. "9."

Hinata. "3."

Sasuke. "10."

Chouji. "7."

Mubi. "1."

Gaara. "11."

Lee. "8."

Shikamaru. "5."

Tenten. "2."

Yoroi. "12."

Kiba. "4."

"That leaves Sabaku no Temari as number 6." Anko said.

The proctor finished writing something down on the paper. "Okay this is how it will go.

Amegakure no Mubi v. Higurashi Tenten.

Hyuuga Hinata v. Inuzuka Kiba.

Nara Shikamaru v. Sabaku no Temari.

Akimichi Chouji v. Rock Lee.

Uzumaki Naruto v. Uchiha Sasuke.

Sabaku no Gaara v. Yoroi Akadō.

Any questions?" The proctor asked. No one raised any hands or opened any mouths. "Then report to the Konoha stadium in one months time for the final exam. Please use the boat ferry just outside of this tower to get back to the town."

–

Kurenai found her team on the ferry ride back. "Hello you three." Kurenai said.

"Hello, Kurenai-sensei." They all said at the same time. Naruto spoke up then, "What do you need Kurenai-sensei?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I'll be working on Shino's taijutsu while you're working on your on techniques. I know you want to help him, but right now you have to focus on the third exam." Kurenai said.

"I will appreciate that, Kurenai-sensei." Shino said.

Naruto looked at Kurenai. "Not to be offensive, but aren't you a genjutsu mistress?"

"Yes, but in order to be a jounin you have to be jounin level in multiple areas. What do you think my second area was in?" Kurenai said with a smile.

"Taijutsu?" Hinata said.

"Exactly. And my third area was in kenjutsu."

"Sword play?" Naruto clarified. She nodded. "Then where are you're swords?"

She smiled. "Kunoichi never reveal their secrets."

"Fair enough." Naruto sighed. "Just tell me you aren't a Togatta."

"I'm not a Togatta." Kurenai said. "Though I have been asked -multiple times, mind you- to join them."

"They've all gotten a bit more forward. Hell, I think Tenten might be a second Anko." Naruto said.

"Anko?" Hinata asked.

"You don't know her?"

"No, I know she was our second proctor, but other then that, I don't know her all to well." Hinata said.

"Well, to describe her in three words. Senbon, Dango, Scary." Naruto said. "That pretty much sums her up."

"She doesn't sound so bad... except for the scary part." Hinata said. "Maybe I'll have to meet her."

"NO!" Both Kurenai and Naruto said at the same time. Anko had a way of changing people to their darker sides, and with Hinata being very impressionable...

"Anyways, I wish you both luck in your training. I want to see both of you in the final three." Kurenai said. She walked away. "Shino, come with me." She said. Shino got up.

"I'll see you two later?"

"Sure."

Naruto sat there for a moment, and then suddenly asked. "What does she mean by final three?" Naruto asked.

"No clue, but since we are on different branches, we could only fight in the end. That means we have to beat everyone in the way." Hinata said.

Naruto smiled. "Then let's make a promise. A promise to fight well, make it to the end, and then go all out."

"Promise!" And she held up a pinky. Naruto took it in his own pinky.

"Promise! And I never break my promise." Naruto said.

Elsewhere on the boat ride

Ino and Sakura were off to the side. To say they were sad that they lost was an understatement. They were hugging each other and crying over it.

"But I wanted to become a chuunin with Sasuke-kun!" They both cried.

Elsewhere on the boat ride.

Akamaru yipped happily. "We finally get to ask mom for those scrolls." Kiba said. "Now we can train in the secret arts of the Inuzuka clan."

Akamaru yipped once more. He was happy his owner was happy, and, secretly, learning knew things.

Elsewhere on the boat ride.

Shikamaru was lazy sitting back, and watching things float by. His friend chouji was busy eating a bag of chips.

"So, what are you going to do for the exam, Shikamaru?" Chouji asked.

"I think cloud gazing." Shikamaru said. "It's too troublesome to do much else. 'Sides, you know I just want an average life. Average family. Average wife."

"You mean like your mom?" Chouji teased.

"Hell no. She's a troublesome blonde, and I don't think I'll ever marry a blonde. They're so troublesome." Shikamaru said.

"Whatever you say." Chouji said.

Elsewhere on the boat ride.

Temari was sitting with her brothers when she sneezed.

"You okay sis?" Kankuro asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a tickle in my nose." Temari said. "I wish it wasn't so cold here in konoha."

"Same. I miss the desert." Knakuro said.

"Hmm." was all Gaara said.

–

Naruto finally made it back to his personal training ground. "Phew, it's nice to be back."

"Welcome back, Naruto-san." Nelrim's voice echoed before he showed up on his favorite spot on a rock. "Kina, Jiraiya, and I have a special training session this month."

"Please save it for tomorrow. Right now, I'm a bit tired." Naruto said.

"I was going to give you a day off today anyways. We just wanted to tell you what you're in for. First off, you will be finishing up step 3 of MK faster then anyone else in history. Second, you will finish the last step of rasengan. It might even only take you a day or two for that, since you seem very close."

"A few hundred balloons, and I might." Naruto said frustrated. He had finished the first and second steps in a day.

_Flashback_

"_Okay, gaki." Jiraiya said. "The first step to the rasengan is spinning." He held up a balloon, and performed the necessary action. The water balloon burst after a second. "You must learn to spin the chakra in one hand." He threw a balloon at Naruto. "Now, I'll come back in a bit-"_

_Pop._

"_How did you do it so fast?" Jiraiya was dumbfounded._

"_Well, it's somewhat similar to my training to work up to MK. I had to move leaves in different directions. The same applied here. I had to move water in different directions." Naruto said._

"_How did you know which way to turn though?" Jiraiya asked. "Most people don't."_

"_Turn which way?" Naruto asked. "What do you mean?"_

_Jiraiya sighed. He walked up to Naruto. "Which way did you turn it?" And he put his hand on Naruto's head."_

"_Um, mostly to the left." Naruto said._

"_Weird, you're chakra spins to the right." Jiraiya said. "Try spinning it to the right this time."_

_The balloon popped faster then last time. "Wow, that was surprisingly easier. I had to force it last time."_

"_That was the whole point to the first step. Learning to spin in the correct direction, and in multiple directions. Now, since it seems you beat both me and Kakashi in the first step time period, I'll give you the next step." Jiraiya said. He held out a rubber ball. "The second step is power." And the ball exploded in his hand._

_Naruto smiled. "Let me try." Jiraiya smiled, and tossed the hanyou a rubber ball._

"_Good thing I stocked up in town, but what will I do with all these extra water balloons?" Jiraiya said._

"_Oh, oh! Can I have them?" Naruto said as he tested the weight of the rubber ball._

"_Sure, but what are you going to use them for?" Jiraiya said._

_Naruto smiled innocently. "You'll have to see later. Anyways, the second step is power, right?" Naruto __held up his hand, and added a lot of chakra to the ball, and spun it like in the water balloon._

_KABOOM!_

_The rubber ball exploded from the amount of chakra Naruto used. Naruto shook his hand. He had been blown back several feet, as had Jiraiya. He wasn't expecting that._

"_How the hell did you do that? It took me an entire month to blow that rubber ball!" Jiraiya said._

"_Simple step 1 of MK makes me learn how to channel, concentrate, and release large amounts of chakra at will. This was somewhat similar, only I had to add a spin to it." Naruto said._

_Jiraiya sighed. "Fine, since you beat the first two, in record time, might I add, I'll give you step three. There is NO WAY you'll beat this step in one day, as it took me 2 full months to learn this step." He held up a balloon, and... nothing happened._

"_Uh, am I missing something?" Naruto said._

"_Here, I'll perform what I'm doing on my other hand." Jiraiya said. He held up his other hand, and a bright blue ball formed on it. "The final step to rasengan is form. This is the highest level of chakra shaping that I know of. If you can complete this step, you'll have completed the rasengan."_

_Naruto was dazzled by the light. This was the first time he had seen the rasengan completed. "Alright, sounds like a challenge. I'll beat this in less then 2 months then."_

_End flashback_

And he still hasn't figured out how to do that.

"Whatever, you'll do it. You're already performing the impossible by learning the MK so fast, you can do this, too." Nelrim said.

That brightened Naruto's spirit a little.

"Now, the third thing we will work on this month. Do you know about advanced chakra manipulation?"

Naruto wracked his brain for an answer, but nothing came up.

Nelrim sighed. "Of course not, you really didn't pay attention to much in the academy. Alright, from the beginning there are two versions of advanced chakra manipulation. The first version is what you're doing now with the rasengan, which is chakra shape. Making a literal shape out of pure chakra. The second version is elemental chakra."

"I've heard of that before." Naruto said.

"Now, you've seen it before. Remember the Suna girl, Temari?" Naruto nodded. "Well, she's completed her wind manipulation training. She can use wind as if it was second nature to her."

"So, the whole point about elemental training is to?"

Nelrim sighed. "It's to make all of your elemental attacks even stronger. You already know what your affinities are, but until you complete your elemental training, I'm afraid that those techniques you got from the hokage will be next to useless."

"Oh."

"So rest up. Tomorrow you have a big day." Nelrim disappeared.

Naruto decided he needed to visit the hot springs.

–

Naruto checked the girls side to make sure that Jiraiya wasn't peeping. He didn't want another hot springs trip ruined. He saw no one by the fence, and Naruto nodded.

He walked into the male's side of the springs, changed clothes, and entered the springs with only a towel on.

Naruto thought back over what happened on the chuunin exams so far.

He had successfully made a seal to cheat on a test. He had broken the record for the fastest team to beat the forest of death challenge. He had beaten a sound ninja into pulp.

Naruto looked down to the water.

He had found out who his father was.

Naruto was happy he had finally found out about his parents. He learned all he could from Jiraiya about his mother, and someday he hopped to learn more about his father.

Naruto put a hand on his scare.

"_I failed that mission the moment you got that gash on your neck."_

The third said those very words to Naruto. The old man looked really sad when he had said that.

Naruto's thoughts moved on. _'What else happened on that trip?'_

Naruto blushed a little.

He kissed Hinata.

Truly, Naruto didn't know what to think of the girl. She was one of the first to look out for him. She was a sweet girl. He smile was pleasant. She had a great attitude. She was one of his real friends.

So what were these fuzzy feelings he was having?

Naruto mulled it over.

–

"I thank you all for coming." Sarutobi said as he sat down at a round table. He looked up to see who was sitting there.

Hyuuga Hiashi. A man with a stoic personality. He was the head of the Hyuuga clan. His pale eyes, and brown hair was the perfect example of a Hyuuga. The man was feared across the known world, and has been seen mercilessly killing his enemies. He was a man few would dare cross.

Inuzuka Tsume. Current head of the Inuzuka clan. She was a mystery to the hokage. One moment, she could be happy, swift, and carefree. The next, she was dangerous, and cold. The woman had the markings of an Inuzuka, meaning the red marks on her cheeks. Her wild brown hair was a common trait among the Inuzuka. Her eyes had a way of always telling you what her mood was, and right now, she was in her dark and dangerous mood.

Akimichi Choza. Leader of the Akimichi clan. The Akimichi clan was different, as the leader is always chosen by strength, not status. Thus, leader was a proper term. The man had the 'big-boned' trait that usually shows up in all Akimichi, due to the excessive amount of energy needed for their techniques. He had long wild red hair, and the leader marks on his face.

Yamanaka Inoichi. The only heir to the Yamanaka clan. His hair was a dirty orange, and had a bright personality. He was dedicated to his duties, and a good thing to. He was just under Ibiki in the torture and interrogations department.

Hawk. Much was unknown about him outside of the ANBU. He was the current head of the entire ANBU division, and was known as one of the best battle leaders in the world. The man had dark, tamed hair. His Hawk mask was a white base with red markings on it.

Raccoon. Another ANBU. This one was the leader of the assassination and information gathering squad. Again, like all ANBU, not much was known about him. The only fact they know is that if the man didn't want to be seen, well, let's just say his enemies never even knew about him. His mask had a black base to it with white markings. His black hair was pulled into a low ponytail.

Nara Shikaku. The laziest genius the hokage has ever known. The man could come up with 20 different ways to kill you with a piece of string, a piece of tissue paper, and a stick. Probably more then that even. The man was also a drunken fist master, but unlike most, the man could control himself. The man had the same hairstyle as his son, Shikamaru. Currently, the man was looking half dead, as he fought back a yawn.

Higurashi Shozen. The current head of the weapons division in Konoha. The Higurashi clan has always been known for their abilities to make good weapons, and make good weapons better. They had a unique set of sealing techniques that could not be dismantled. The man had on a Chinese style martial arts outfit that had been dyed with red as the main color, and blue as secondary. He had shoulder length brown hair, and a defiant twinkle in his brown eyes. His appearance made him look to be mid thirties.

Morino Ibiki. Head of the ANBU torture and interrogations department. The man was large, and his face made you seem insignificant. The man had a cold expression on his face. He didn't show emotions much.

Hatake Kakashi. Leader of the jounin division. He was a laid back man, but he knew when a situation was serious. Kakashi was never late for a life or death situation. As the leader of the jounin division, Kakashi had to know when and where all konoha jounin will be at any given moment. Even on missions. It's a hard job to do, as jounins are skilled in stealth.

Inuzuka Hana. Leader of the chuunin division. She, like her mother, was a wild and dangerous individual, but could have a surprisingly cool head for an Inuzuka. She also takes care of three nin dogs known as the 'triplets', highly unusual for the clan. As the leader of the chuunin division, she had to be up to date on all of their missions and whereabouts.

Umino Iruka. Leader of the genin and academy divisions. Iruka, as the leader of these divisions was in charge of all civilian safety protocols, as well as know which academy students were okay to go on to shinobi or kunoichi status. Sarutobi knew of the man's dark past.

Finally, Moukai Iruzo. The head of the medical division in Konoha. The man was of an indifference attitude. Always looking for better ways to save people was his main goal. He had on a pair of glasses that held close to his eyes. He had dark brown streaked blond hair that was brushed back. His eyes were steel blue. When people stared into his eyes, they swore they saw nothing. His appearance made him looked to be mid forties.

"I assume you have all read the reports on the table in front of you?" They had all nodded. "Good. Now, let's discuss 'Operation: Eagle.'"

–

The sun rose the next day.

Naruto yawned loudly. He smacked his lips, and got out of bed. He stepped over several wires, and traps laid all over the floor, and got the milk out of his refrigerator. He popped it open, and took several gulps.

"Ah, nothing like a gulp of milk in the morning to wake you up." Naruto said. He walked passed a bunch of trap wires and sealed explosives, and made it to the bathroom. He started the shower, let it get warm, and took a nice long wake shower. After all the shampoo scrubbing was done, he got out, went passed the traps once more, got dressed for the day in his usual black clothing, and went back to the kitchen. He ate several bowls of cold cereal. After he cleaned his place, he put on his kunai and shuriken pouches, grabbed his backpack, and left out the front door.

A tick mark appeared on Kina's head. "Goddamn ruts."

–

Naruto appeared at his usual training ground. "Hello, everyone."

"Hello, Naruto." Nelrim said. "Have a nice sleep?"

"You bet. Even all the pranks in the world couldn't get me today." Naruto said happily. Just as he said that, several gallons of green glop was pored onto his head. "Goddammit."

"That's what you get for being arrogant." Nelrim said. He chuckled a little. "Kina got you good."

Naruto sighed. "I'll go get changed." A few minutes later, he was all clean. "I swear I go through my clothes faster then anyone else in this whole village."

"Now don't say that. The ANBU are pranked just as much as you are. If not, more so." Nelrim said. "Remember the time they all turned purple and green?"

"Ouch, okay yea, they go through more maybe." Naruto said. "Anyways, you said I would be starting elemental training today?"

"Yes, quite so. We'll only start one at a time though. First off is your family's main element. Wind." Nelrim said.

"Okay, so what do I do to train that?" Naruto said.

"Well, you'll be learning it in two different ways. The first way is how people learned about wind in the first place. The second is how the Suna do it." Nelrim said.

"Okay, that makes a lot of sense. I mean what difference is there?" Naruto said sarcastically.

"Actually a ton. You see, back in the days of the sage of six paths, no one knew what even chakra was. Now, we have advanced versions of it. So, how do people learn about these things?" Nelrim asked.

"I don't know, actually." Naruto said.

"To be truthful, no one does know how they found out about elemental composition. Only 3 people on this planet even know a tiny bit of the truth. Fortunately for you, I don't count as a 'person' so I know about it. Hell, I was around when they found out about chakra." Nelrim said.

"Okay, so what do I do?" Naruto asked.

"First off, you're going to create exactly 500 clones at 50 percent. Next, 250 of those will go with Kina to learn the Suna way, as she knows all about it. Meanwhile the other 250 will be coming with me." Nelrim said.

"Alright, what about me?"

"Strength and speed training." Nelrim said.

"Ah man. Anko again? She's a monster." Naruto said.

"Make the clones you pussy." Nelrim said.

"Fine." Naruto put his hands up into the infamous cross, and exactly 500 fazed into existence.

"Good job, I can see you can pull off the correct amount in large numbers." Nelrim said.

"Yeah, it's getting easier now that I know about it." Naruto said.

"Okay, half of you with me, the other half go to the river." Nelrim said.

Naruto stood in an emptied out field. He sighed. Suddenly his hand jerked up, and caught a senbon going for his temple. "You know, Anko-chan, I'm getting tired of just dodging all the time."

"I know, so I hired Tenten again." a voice called out somewhere.

At that, Naruto froze. The wind brushed by in the field for a moment, and then a large boom, as Naruto ran for his life. Maniacal laughter echoed through the forest.

–

In a heavily forested area.

Nelrim was dashing along until the forests got so thick, they couldn't see the sky. He stopped, and waited for the clones to catch up. The little prick was fast for being so small.

"Alright, you clones. Time to form up. Today you will be learning how shinobi originally learned elemental manipulation." Nelrim turned around to see them determined to learn anything new. "In order for you to understand how this will work, you need to forget all you learned about chakra. Everything. Because this goes outside of what is normally taught. You will each spread out, and find a tree for your own, but stay in hearing distance of my voice."

The clones nodded, and found a tree for their own. Nelrim's voice grew quieter and mistier as he talked. "Now, put your hand on the tree, close your eyes, and listen." He disappeared.

The clones did just that, but they didn't know what to listen to. They just kept at it though, hoping to see what he meant.

–

By the river.

"Okay you maggots. Today you will begin the Suna's version of wind manipulation. This is the hardest version out there, but the results will be more amazing in the end. I want each of you, to pick up... a rock." Kina called out.

The clones shrugged, and went to find a rock in the river. After they picked it up, they looked back to Kina. "You're going to cut this rock in half with your chakra alone."

"But, how do we do that?" Asked a clone.

Kina sighed. "How to put this. It's really hard to explain. Imagine your chakra getting thinner and sharper. Then make them collide. Like a pair of scissors."

The clones looked down at the rock in their hands. They had to cut it by making his chakra thinner, and sharper?

Some of the clones went to dry ground, and sat down to think, while others tried to imagine just that, and cut the rock.

–

Five hours later, sometime around noon. Back in the heavily forested area.

A clone finally got frustrated. "GAH! I don't understand! What does he mean by listen?"

"I was wondering about that, too." clone number 2 said.

A loud scream and an explosion was heard.

Clone number 2 then sighed, "Then again, it's hard to concentrate when the boss screams like that."

Nelrim reappeared. "That's enough all of you. Come here."

"Finally." some of the clones said.

"What did you hear?" Nelrim said.

Many of the clones sweat a little, and then deadpanned.

"Nothing, eh? I was expecting that. You need to calm down. Don't focus on everything, focus on just plain listening. It isn't a specific sound you need to hear. Just listen. Take a deep breath everyone, and go back to your trees." Nelrim said.

Many of the clones nodded, and went back.

One of the clones closed his eyes, and put his hand on the tree in front of him.

Wind rustled in the leaves. There was something else. He opened his eyes, and moved to another tree. He took another deep breath, and listened once more.

Nothing this time. Just the wind rustling in the leaves. Wait, there it was.

The clone opened his eyes once more, and moved away from the group. Repeating this process until he was far out of any range of sight or sound of the other clones.

He put his hand to the tree once more.

–

The clones by the river about the same time.

Many of the clones were getting tired. They were running low on juice, and the expiration time was due any minute now.

Kina came back to the river side. "Any progrees?"

"I managed to crack my rock." A clone in the back said.

"I managed to make a nick."

"Good, that was amazing process. Everyone dispel in the usual matter." Kina said.

They nodded. They all turned to each other, and started playing games of rock paper scissors. Whoever won, dispelled. Whoever lost moved on to the next clone nearby.

Soon only one was left. He sighed. "Lost 10 games in a row." and then dispelled.

Kina giggled, and then went back to where the original Naruto was getting tortur- Uh, training.

–

Naruto was in the middle of a field. He was breathing heavily, and sweat dripped down his brow. His eyes shooting back and forth for the smallest sign of danger.

He lifted his foot up, and placed it on the ground 2 inches to the side.

200 weapons, all ranging from senbon to shuriken to swords and pics flew at Naruto from all angles.

Naruto Breathed out once. He closed his eyes, and imagined his chakra moving throughout his body. He breathed in, and then let out a yell. His arms flew out from his sides, and palms faced the forest edge. A large crater formed around Naruto. The weapons stopped in midair, and either just plain dropped, or flew backwards.

Naruto gasped a little, and dropped to one knee.

"That's enough weapon dodge training for now." Nelrim said.

"Aw." Two voices went, and dropped down from the trees. It was Anko and Tenten. "We wanted to play some more." Anko said.

"By the way, Naruto-kun, what was that last technique you did?" Tenten asked.

"Need to know basis, Tenten." Nelrim said.

Tenten pouted a little, but brightened soon after. "Fine, but I'm still waiting for your answer, Naruto-kun." And then she hopped into the trees, and left for town.

"See ya later, squirt." Anko said, and took off as well.

Naruto looked at the ground. The crater reached a radius of about 2 meters. He looked to the side, and saw many places destroyed from his MK. Part of the training was to get him used to using it, so that he could use it on instinct.

It was working...

Naruto stood up, and pulled three kunai out of his back, and a shuriken out of his arm. He bent over and took three senbon out if his shins.

… mostly.

This was also working his pain tolerance, but he swore if he wasn't getting so strong by training like this, he'd beat the shit out of Nelrim for letting those two train him.

"Naruto, we're still going to have to work on you completing step three. You're destroying too much ground, and using the Karada Joseki_(Body expelling)_ just now almost destroyed your clothes." Nelrim said.

"Hai, hai." Naruto said. He sat down to catch his breath. He had just received memories from all of the clones by the river. "Hey, where are the clones you went with?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, here and there. They'll be training constantly until they expire." Nelrim said. "Which wont be for another 2 days."

"Ah, okay." Naruto said.

Kina appeared. "Okay, break for lunch, and meet back in an hour. You'll be continuing MK when you get back."

"Hai." Naruto said.

"Oh, and don't forget, you'll also be continuing seal training with Jiraiya as well." Kina said.

"Got it. Now, can I go eat now?" Naruto asked.

Kina and Nelrim stared at Naruto for a bit. "Go." They both said.

Naruto was off in a dash.

–

In the middle of town.

People were walking by minding their own business. Then some of them stopped, or just stared as they walked by. They saw a black trench coat wearing shinobi crawling on the ground towards Ichiruka's.

Some of the civilians thought they should help, while others thought this might be some sort of act.

No real shinobi would crawl on the ground because he was starving... right?

Kakashi was minding his own business, reading his smut in public -of which several females, both civillian and kunoichi, swore to burn it someday- when he suddenly tripped.

He landed face first into the ground.

Now that had people stopping altogether. This had to be an act. A shinobi was crawling on the ground, and a second shinobi, the famous son of the white fang, tripped over the first one.

Some of the kids nearby giggled.

Kakashi was the first to get up. He looked to his book, which he saved by holding it in midair, only to gasp. It wasn't his book. It was a book on manners.

Kakashi panicked, and search the ground, until he found Naruto. He stopped, and pulled the boy up by his hand. He poked the boy's head. "Crap he's dead. So now that I can't blame him for my missing book," He started, and threw Naruto off to the side, "I can look for my real book."

He pulled out a magnifying glass, and followed some unknown trail.

Nothing happened for the next few minutes, until Naruto giggled a little. He stood up, and held up the smut book. "Who wants to burn this?"

Several females raised their hands.

Naruto tossed the book to a kunoichi. "Have fun." And Naruto walked into Ichiruka's. If Naruto had looked back, he would have seen a very scary scene... To perverts that is.

Nearby the springs.

Jiraiya was... 'researching'. Suddenly, he felt cold, and small. Somewhere out there, one of his many books was being mutilated. A tear fell down his face.

"Ah, oh well. Such is the things in life." Jiraiya said, and then turned back to peek into the springs.

Something was wrong. All he could see was water. "Where'd all the babes go?" Jiraiya asked the air.

"Here." A female voice behind him said.

Jiraiya turned around slowly, a petrified look on his face.

Several girls were behind him, all of them wearing towels. The lead one was a blond girl who was slightly taller then Jiraiya. The girl had pigtails. She cracked her knuckles. "We were waiting for you."

Back at Ichiruka's.

"Ah, justice was served today." Naruto said, with a smug look on his face.

"Oh, how so?" Ayame asked.

"Pervert's numbers one and three got hit today." Naruto said smiling.

"What about number two?" Ayame asked.

"Oh, that's right." Naruto said. A clone popped up behind him. "Activate seal number 48 in our room."

"Got it boss." The clone said, and ran off.

Naruto turned back to the counter. "I'll order a Miso special to start." Naruto said.

"Sure, and foxy-chan here?" Ayame asked, as Kina showed up on the counter.

"She'll have the usual." Naruto said.

"One Miso special, and a tender stake to start." Ayame said, and went into the back.

5 minutes later.

"Okay, here you go." Ayame said. A big bowl was placed in front of Naruto. "What shall be the next course?"

"3 beef, and 2 shrimp." Naruto smelled the addictive fumes.

"Okay!" Ayame said.

"Wait a second, Ayame-nee-chan."

"What is it, Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked.

Naruto held his hand up to his ears, and said. "T-minus 10... 9... 8..."

In the hokage's office.

Ever since Naruto told him about shadow clones, he's been abusing it left and right. All the paper work was in the down pile of the box, and right now, the old man was enjoying a good book.

Another puff of smoke exited his mouth, as he breathed out. He enjoyed a good smoke.

He would have to thank Naruto once more for the idea. He loved all the extra time he was getting. Every time his assistant came in with work, his clones would take the paper's and shuffle through them. Of course, he had to be careful and dispel them everyone in a while.

It's barely been two days, and already he felt more relaxed then usual.

He looked back down to his book. "Okay, let's see how Tenchi gets out of this one." He giggled.

After flipping the page one more time to find out the ending to his book, a sudden bang was heard in the office. Dread filled Sarutobi's eyes.

Back at the ramen shop.

"... 2 ..1."

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" A loud yell was heard.

"And that's pervert number 2." Naruto said smiling.

"Why number them like that?" Ayame asked.

"Number 1 is the biggest pervert, and it goes down from there." Naruto said.

"So, the hokage is number 2?" Ayame asked. She recognized his voice.

"Yeap." Naruto smiled.

"Good job, then." Ayame smiled. "Is there any other perverts?"

"Yes, but those are the big three." Naruto said.

"Can you name a few?" she asked.

"Well, there are also the big three female perverts." Naruto said. "But, it's good when they do it."

"Like who?" Ayame asked, a small blush appearing on her face.

"Well, number 3 is Anko." Naruto said. "Number 2 is Tenten."

"And, who's number one?"

"Well. If I said, then that would spoil the fun." Naruto grinned.

"Just tell me." Ayame said.

"Hinata." Naruto deadpanned.

Ayame laughed. "You're kidding. That shy cutey?"

"No way. I've seen her follow me halfway through town. She isn't nearby right now, but she does follow me a lot." Naruto sighed.

Ayame laughed. "I think you're mistaking her for something else."

"Like what?" Naruto asked.

"Well, that would be telling. And a girl never tells her secrets." Ayame smirked, and then left to the kitchen.

Naruto sighed. "I'll never understand girls." He paid for his meals, and Kina's steaks, and left.

–

Back at the training ground.

"Alright Naruo." Nelrim said. "Make 100 clones, and make them go to Jiraiya by the river."

Naruto nodded, and did so.

"Okay, let's continue step 3, shall we?"

"What should we work on first?" Naruto asked. "Karada Joseki? Or Taishissou_(Great dash)?"_

"Neither. As I said earlier, you need to learn to expel the concentrated chakra more subtly. In other words, not destroy ground." Nelrim said.

"So how do we do that?" Naruto asked.

"This is why step three is so dangerous. You learned the beginning mechanics, but now we have to get you to learn how to make the chakra flow in a direction. Right now, you're just expelling the chakra straight outwards. What I'm about to make you do will help you angle your chakra expelling. For instance, instead of coming straight out of the bottom of your foot, it will come out from the back of your heel. But it's still using the same tenketsu." Nelrim said.

"How the hell do I do that?" Naruto asked.

Nelrim sighed. "Watch this." A small circle of water that appeared from thin air streamed around Nelrim's head. "See this water? It's flowing in a single direction. Now, observe."

A rock came up form the ground, and intersected the stream of water. The water splattered everywhere. The rock then was pulled out from the stream, and sliced in half.

"You look like you need a cool down." Nelrim said. The rock, now having a flat and smooth surface went back up into the stream of water. The rock was angled just so, so that all of it splashed into Naruto's face.

"Thanks for that, Nelrim-san." Naruto said. He was feeling a bit hot in the black clothes.

"No problem. So, did you see what I did? I used this rock to angle the water. It was still moving forward until it his the rock." Nelrim said.

"I get that much, but how does this help with learning step three?" Naruto asked.

"That you have to learn on your own. Now, have your palms face a tree." Nelrim said.

Naruto did so.

"Now, do not move your hands. Not one inch. And then make the chakra go down, instead of at the tree." Nelrim said, and then disappeared.

Naruto was thoroughly confused.

–

At the river.

"Alright you maggots. Which one of you pulled off that prank earlier?" Jiraiya asked. His arm was in a cast. He had a black eye, and the clones couldn't tell, but they thought they saw several slap marks on his face.

The clones quickly pointed at one specific clone. "He did it!"

"Ah, you guys are such swell companions." The lone pointed at clone said sarcastically.

The clone was picked up by Jiraiya. They looked at each other in the eye. Suddenly, he started poking the clone. "Weird, how did you pull off a solid transformation?"

Several clones looked at Jiraiya like he lost it. "What do you mean?" asked a clone.

"I mean, usually a henge isn't solid. But the clone I groped during all that misfit was clearly a solid girl."

Several clones looked at Jiraiya skeptically.

"And the detail to the feminine henge was outstanding. It felt like the real thing." Jiraiya said.

"Yes, and?" A clone asked.

"All this begs to a question. How much of the female anatomy do you know? And how do you know Kotai Henge no jutsu_(Solid body transformation justu)_?" Jiraiya asked.

"Ko-tai Henge?" a clone asked.

"What, you're seriously telling me you do a solid transformation by pure instinct?" Jiraiya asked.

The clones looked at Jiraiya like he was crazy. "Isn't that what a henge is? The boss always thought that the henge was a solid thing."

"Not really. It's a small genjutsu type ninjutsu." Jiraiya said.

"You mean a ninjutsu that could also be counted as a genjutsu?" A clone said.

"Yes. Tell me, how much training did you put into henge?" Jiraiya said.

"Well, at first it was just an illusion, but it always faltered. After a while of training, we found out that this was suddenly easier to hold." The clone explained. "We just trained at it until it became normal. We always thought everyone else just did the same thing."

"Hmm, that explains the henge. Now," Jiraiya sat down, "Please explain how you know the female anatomy so well for a 14 year old." Jiraiya stared at Naruto.

"Weeeeeeell." Several of the clones blushed a bit. "Kina had Anko help us."

"She... what?" Jiraiya looked confused.

"Well, we wanted to be able to transform into either gender, and since ours was supposed to be real, well, we wanted to make sure we didn't mess up. Sooooo." The clone started, but didn't finish.

"She seriously didn't make you do it with Anko, did she?" Jiraiya said.

"No, no no. The boss didn't do anything, except that Anko was also drunk at the time, and she would be loud unless, the boss... well um.. fondled her." the clones sighed sighed.

Jiraiya sighed. "Your father's luck must be a genetic thing. He was always lucky with the women." Jiraiya cried in a corner. How that corner got there, Naruto would never learn. Just that you don't question things when reality becomes surreal.

"Well, what about our seal training?" The clones asked.

"Ah, that's right!" Jiraiya bounced back.

"Weren't you just crying in a corner?" One clone whispered.

Jiraiya pulled out several books from his scroll. "Here ya go, tykes. Enjoy. Any questions, please come ask me." He walked off to the edge of the clearing, and sat down with his notebook out. He just got a new idea for a book.

–

Tbc..

That's it for now. I can't think of anything else to add to this chapter.

Next chapter will be the beginning of the third exam.

Ja na.

Omake: The "GET NARUTO ON OUR CLAN!" festival. Part 2.

Naruto was walking along. He had just pranked the Hokage's office three days ago, and he was hoping to get some relaxation time. Well, fate hates him at the moment... for no apparent reason.

"YOSH! NARUTO!" Gai said. "JOIN OUR YOUTHFUL CLAN OF LOGISM, AND LET YOUR YOUTH SHINE!" (Caps lock ftw)

Naruto had to cover his ears up. After the man yelled, Naruto rubbed them and said, "Sheesh. Could you yell any louder?" Only then did Naruto realize his mistake.

**"****YOSH! IS THIS GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU!?"**The earth was rumbling.

"No." Naruto said flatly, and walked off.

Gai dropped to the ground. "My youthfulness cannot change this one."

"DON'T WORRY, GAI-SENSEI!" The smaller clone of Gai came up and yelled. "I'LL CHANGE NARUTO FOR THE BETTER!"

Lee ran passed Gai, and up to Naruto. "COME JOIN US!"

Naruto turned around slowly. "And let me guess. If I don't you have to do one thousand reverse crunches?"

"NO! I'LL DO 2 THOUSAND!"

"And will Gai-sensei join you?" Naruto asked.

"YOSH! OF COURSE HE WILL!"

"Then no." Naruto said calmly, and walked off. Sometimes, a prankster has to be cruel.

Tcb?

Omake: Nelrim.

Some of you may be wondering what Nelrim does in his spare time.

Jiraiya was currently sitting in the hot springs. A giggle or two would escape his lips every once in a while.

Hovering above the man, peaking through another peep hole, was the infamous cat. A creepy giggle escape his mouth.

Some of you may be trying to ignore what you just read, others will never wonder again. Either way, this will haunt you.

End.


	16. Chapter 16: Beginning of the Third Exam

Disclamer: If I actually owned Naruto, he would be a badass in the cannon. The Ocs I do own ARE badass.

Vote poll: It's still open guys. Choice one is currently winning with choice three at a close second. Keep it up guys, the poll will close up the chapter after this one.

Vote details are at the top of chapter 12.

Now on to the fic.

–

Chapter 16: Beginning of the third exam.

Naruto opened his eyes. He was currently standing in the center of the stadium. Today was the day of the third exam. The crowd made of many people cheered for the competitors.

The proctor from the preliminaries was standing in front of the 11 who made it this far. I say 11, because Sasuke has not made it yet.

The proctor was still standing there, waiting for the signal to start.

Up in the stands.

Sakura and Ino were sitting together. "Where's Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. "He's late."

"Don't worry, Sakura. You and I both know he's making a big entrance later." Ino replied.

"That's true."

They both stood up. "GO SASUKE-KUN!"

Back down on the ground.

Several of the competitors just sighed. Knowing Kakashi, the boy would be late. 'Like sensei like student,' they say.

An ANBU came down next to the proctor. He whispered something in the man's ear, and the proctor nodded.

He coughed once, and then put his hands into a bird sign. "I welcome all of you to the third exam of the chuunin exams." His voice echoed loudly, yet the man looked like he was talking normally. "Today we have 12 participants who have made it this far. I hope you all enjoy the show."

He turned back to the competitors. "Alright the first fight is between Amegakure no Mubi v. Higurashi Tenten. Will all the other competitors please go up to the competitor box, and wait for your match."

The others nodded, and headed up to the box to watch the match.

On top of the roof above the hokage.

Hawk silently watched. He put his hand up to his neck to turn on his radio. "Operation: Eagle is a go. Repeat. Operation: Eagle is a go. Moving to stage alpha."

Back down on the field.

Tenten touched her feet to the ground. Currently, her normal scroll on the back was slightly larger then normal. She pulled her new gloves, which matched her Chinese style clothing, tight. They also had a medal band on the back of the hand. She tightened her headband. "Hope you have some new tricks there."

Mubi was also sporting some slight changes. He was no longer wearing the mask and breather. He was standing up straight as well. He had a like smirk on his face. "Oh, I do."

"Are both participants ready?" The proctor asked. Both of them nodded.

"HAJIME!"

Tenten jumped backwards to gain some distance. She smiled. "Dance of the blade." She whispered. She put her hands behind her back, and when she brought them back out, she was holding two medium length straight swords in each hand. Both of the blades were in a reverse grip.

She put her head down, and waited.

After a second of silence, a kunai was block by one of her blades. She didn't even move her head. Her hand just twitched to block the kunai heading for the small of her back.

Another kunai blocked from the side.

More moments of silence. Suddenly, Tenten dropped to the ground and did a spinning kick. Halfway through the kick, she hit the shinobi's head. The poor fellow flew halfway across the arena.

"Damn, looks like I'll have to use it early." Mubi said. He pulled out a water bottle, and opened it up. He started some hand seals. "Suiton: Suiben."_(Water style: water whip)_ A water whip appeared from the bottle. Mubi then wrapped his hands around the end, and then made a throwing motion with it.

The water whip went straight for Tenten, but she didn't react. The water whip wrapped around Tenten.

"Hah. Now that I got you, you can't escape." Mubi held up half a ram sign. Lightning appeared on Mubi's fingers. "Dead end."

The split second before he touched the water, Tenten smiled.

The water conducted the electricity straight to Tenten, and an explosion occurred.

"Hehe. No one has ever survived that." Mubi said.

On the edge of the smoke, a figure dashed out. It skimmed on the wall, and then rushed straight towards Mubi. The Ame nin's eyes widened.

Right before him Tenten was smiling looking directly into his eyes. She whispered something. "...kai." was all he heard of it. Then, nothing.

The crowd was cheering. One moment it looked like the kunoichi was going to die, the next Mubi was on the ground, unconscious and literally made of cuts.

Naruto's jaw dropped. He saw it all. Tenten went straight up to the fellow, and then whispered something. He couldn't here what, but whatever it did, made Tenten's swords move much faster then any human could possibly conceive. In less then a second the boy had gotten over 100 cuts.

Tenten didn't even have a scratch on her.

"Winner by knock out Higurashi Tenten." The proctor called. He didn't need to inspect the boy to see what had happened. Hell, he was a sword user himself.

The medics came out, and when they saw the body, they knew it would be a long day.

Up in the kage box.

The hokage puffed his pipe. "That Amegakure shinobi didn't put up much of a fight. He doesn't seem to have many abilities."

The Kazekage spoke up. "That girl of yours, on the other hand, seems to have mastered the infamous Higurashi style."

"Indeed she has. And at such a young age, too." The hokage said. "We'll have to see her fight more to see if she's a chuunin level or not."

Down on the arena floor.

"Would the next competitors please come out?" Hayate called.

Naruto turned to his teammate. "Well, it looks like you're up. Go show dog boy why cats rule." Naruto said jokingly.

"You bet, Naruto-kun." Hinata said. "This is for luck." She pulled down a part of his mask, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and then ran downstairs.

Naruto put his hand to his cheek. His face was priceless. Both Kina and Hiraku were laughing nearby. "You dared her to do that, right?" Kina asked.

"Oh yea, and a lot more." Hiraku said back.

Down in the arena.

"Second match. Hyuuga Hinata v. Inuzuka Kiba." Hayate called.

Hinata tested her new gloves. She had fingerless black gloves made of a special chakra enhancing material. "It's time." She closed her eyes, and pulled down her hood. She took off her coat, and threw it aside.

The crowd went speechless.

Hyuuga Hinata? The heiress of the Hyuuga clan? They couldn't believe it.

She had dark bluish purple cat ears on top of her head. Two furry cat tails danced around behind her with the tips a milky lavender. She opened her eyes. The slits in her eyes had become more apparent. They had become dark purple. Underneath her coat was a sleeveless lavender shirt.

She smirked.

Kiba was speechless. Hell, half of the crowd still had gaping mouths, the Hyuuga council especially.

Here before him was dogs worst enemy. The cat. He growled.

"Are both participants ready?" Hayate asked.

"Hai." Hinata said.

Kiba just growled.

"HAJIME!"

Kiba rushed towards Hinata, not even bothering to put his dog down onto the ground. The puppy hurriedly escaped his master's coat. Kiba clawed straight at Hinata.

She danced to the right of his attack. Her arms flowed. Her hands passed right by Kiba's torso.

Akamaru just shook his head, and barried his nose under his paws. It was never smart to attack a cat straight on. This is one thing all puppies learn.

Kiba landed on all fours, and turned around in mid slide. He coughed up some blood. He stared wildly at the blood on the ground before him. "H-how? You didn't even touch me."

Hinata smiled. "A cat never tells her secrets." She winked, and then gestured for him to come at her.

Kiba growled. He pulled out a soldier pill, and took it. He then threw one to Akamaru, the dog caught it in mid air, and then started growling.

"Now now, boys. If you keep growling and fuzzing at the mouth, I'll have to put you down." Hinata smiled.

"Oh great, dog jokes." Kiba muttered. "AKAMARU!"

The dog barked and hopped on top of Akamaru. "Jujin bushin!"_(Man beast clone)_

A cloud of smoke appeared around them. Two Kibas appeared, and then launched straight at Hinata. "GATSUUGA!"

Hinata's eyes gained the usual activation marks of the Byakugan. She fell into Ryuuken's stance. Her arms were closer to her body then in the Jyuuken stance. Her hands made half ram signs.

The Gatsuuga crashed down on Hinata. A cloud of smoke appeared around the area of impact. The audience looked on to see what happened.

Laughter was heard. Everyone looked up to see Hinata standing on the wall of the arena. "You think that slow technique can ever hit me?" She asked out loud.

The dust cleared to show two Kibas growling in her direction. They ran towards Hinata once more, and jumped to start spinning in mid air. "GATSUUGA!" The twin swirling tornadoes went directly for Hinata. She disappeared long before they could hit the wall.

The tornadoes bounced off the wall, and went in the direction of Hinata's new position of standing right behind the proctor. The proctor sweat a little, and then yelled, "HEY! No using me for a meat shield!" And then ran off to the side.

Hinata just stood there smiling. She disappeared once more before they could hit her.

Naruto was laughing in the competitor's box. "It's either a big dumb dog chasing a cat, or a cat playing with it's food. Either way, it's funny!" Naruto yelled out.

Hinata was yawning, and laying down in the center of the arena cloud gazing, she disappeared only to reappear three meters to the left. The Gatsuuga missed her once more.

After about fifteen minutes of constant use, the Gatsuuga stopped, and both nin dog and master fell to the ground. Naruto swore he saw Hinata reading a magazine somewhere during all that running.

Hinata approached them both. "Awh, too tired to play? I'm so sorry to here that." She picked up the puppy. "Poor thing's exhausted. How could your master push you so hard? Oh, you poor thing." And she cuddled it in her arms.

Kiba moved a little. He slowly got up. "Akamaru... You traitor."

Akamaru just barked, and then snuggled up to the hanyou. "He's no traitor, he just knows when to give up." Hinata scratched the puppy's belly. "So cute. But you need a bath."

The puppy looked up at her with pleading eyes. "What? You actually want a bath?"

The puppy nodded his head.

Hinata looked up to Kiba. "Don't you bathe him?"

"Hah! Who needs bathing? Real men know how to play rough." Kiba said. He was standing on two feet, but he was gasping for air, and his stance was a little weak.

"Real men know how to clean themselves." She sniffed the air, and then sorry that she did. "Kami you stink."

"Traitor." Kiba said to his dog. The dog just put his nose up into the air at him. "Oh no you didn't. You did NOT just use that tone with me mister!" The dog just ignored him. Kiba deadpanned. "Fine. I give up."

"Winner by forfeit Hyuuga Hinata." The proctor was laughing on the inside.

A kunoichi came down to the ground. It was Tsume, the leader of the Inuzuka. "Inuzuka Mabui Kiba! To the clan compound. NOW!" To say she looked pissed was an understatement.

"Yes, mother." Kiba said in a squeaky voice.

Hinata, Naruto, Kina, and Hiraku were all laughing on the ground. Hinata had to ask, "You're middle name is Mabui? Ahahahahha!" She fell onto her back and started laughing. "You must be a REAL tough man!" (To those who don't know Mabui can mean cute or pretty)

"Shove it." Kiba growled.

"Grrrr." His mother went, and dragged the poor boy out of the arena by his ear.

"Hyuuga-san." The proctor started, controlling the fits of laughter.

Not only had the Hyuuga girl undermined a bond between a puppy and master, she had also made the poor boy be taken away by his mother!

"Can I ask you to -snicker- leave the arena?" The proctor asked. Man this year's chuunin exam was getting better and better. "Oh, and you might want to let the dog go. You know, so he can go back with his... 'master'."

"Oops. I better let you go back." Hinata looked down at the dog. It was giving her the puppy dog eyes. "Don't give me that look." more 'black mail' technique. "Agh, can't... resist... cuteness." The puppy pushed one last burst into it. "Fine. You can stay with me for today, but tomorrow you're going straight back."

The puppy barked happily at that. She carried it all the way up to the competitor's box. Hiraku jumped onto her shoulder, and wrapped her tail around her neck. Kina did the same on the other side.

Naruto was smiling. "All you need is a bird on your head, and you can call that a complete set."

"Too bad we don't know any birds." Hinata smiled.

Up in the Kage box.

The kazekage spoke up. "That Hyuuga girl looked like she was playing with the boy the entire time."

The hokage chuckled. "I believe so, Kazekage-san. Does she look like a worthy candidate to you?"

"Well, she did undermine the boy's bond with his dog. Then again, I don't really care about that. What made her chuunin material is the fact that she just toyed with him. Other then that, we didn't see what she could really do."

"Agreed. And I'm sorry to say this, but that Inuzuka doesn't look like chuunin material much. He's too hot headed." The hokage responded.

"Too true. If he just thought this battle through instead of charging head on, then maybe he could've been considered. He has a large amount of chakra for a gennin, being able to hold Gatsuuga for so long." The kazekage said.

"Are we still betting on who wins between the Uchiha and the Uzumaki?" The hokage asked.

"Yes. I think we both wagered 10 thousand ryos. Me on the Uchiha, and you on the Uzumaki. But I still don't quite get it. You never make any bad and horrible bets."

The hokage chuckled. "I Think we'll see once that match comes up." The Hokage then focused on the arena. "Oh look, they're calling the next match."

Down on the arena floor.

"The next match shall be Nara shikamaru v. Sabaku no Temari. Will the two contestants please come down?" The proctor called out.

Up in the box.

"Such a drag." Shikamaru said. The fan girl used her fan to drop down to the arena floor gracefully. He didn't want to fight her. He being a mid range strategist versus a mid to long range semi-strategist. it would just be a grudge match all day long. She'd win of course, because she had more chakra then him. "I should just quit now, and save the trouble. 'Sides, I'll need it for later."

Naruto walked up behind him. "C'mon buddy. I know you can win."

"But it's so troublesome. She's a blond girl for kami's sake. I can't fight a woman who resembles my mother." Shikamaru deadpanned.

"Ah, stop being such a wuss," SLAM! "and get in there to fight!" Naruto slammed his hand in Shikamaru's back, and pushed the boy over the edge.

Shikamaru landed on his back on the arena floor. He sighed, and got up slowly. He saw his opponent eying him slowly. Measuring up his strengths and weaknesses. _'Typical strategist mind.'_ He sighed once more. Grudge match it is then.

He walked up to the woman slowly.

"Are both contestants ready to fight?" The proctor asked.

"Hai." Both of them said slowly, measuring each other up.

Temari's thoughts. _'Slim body. Laid back posture. Yawning before a match. Definitely a weakling. Still a ninja is all about deceiving people. This could be a deception to let people relax.'_ (Oh how wrong you are, Temari.) _'I think I'll go all out, and get him fast. If anything, he could be a strategist type. If he is, this would be a grudge match.'_

Shikamaru's thoughts. He looked her over once. _'Troublesome.'_

"HAJIME!" The proctor brought his hand down, and then jumped back.

Shikamaru sighed, and then did a back flip. He gracefully dodged a kick to his legs.

Temari was wide eyed. The boy's eyes were close, but he dodged a strike with no effort? Warning signals were going up like flares in her mind.

Shikamaru landed lightly, and lazily opened his eyes.

Temari brought her fan out, and waved it around slowly. As if testing it's already known weight. She spun it once, and then planted it one the ground. "Well, I'm waiting." She said slowly.

Shikamaru sighed. _'Risk letting her find out about my kage mane's weakness, or taijutsu fight. A taijutsu fight would only get me wounded, as she would try to blow me away. And using my kage mane would only make this match all the more unbearable. Sigh, I didn't want to use this yet, but it looks like I have no choice.'_ He sighed. This match would be such a drag. He brought his hands up into a rat sign.

His shadow stretched, and sped along straight for Temari. Unfortunately, the girl was waiting for it. She grabbed her fan, and jumped back. The shadow still came for her. She still jumped back.

_'C'mon, there has to be a limit to this thing. There!'_ Sure enough the shadow stopped coming, and backed up. She made a line with her fan in the ground, and then slammed it into the ground beside her. "This is your limit? Much farther then I first assumed, but then again, surprise is everything." Temari said cooly. "Now for my retaliation. Kamaitachi no Jutsu!"_(Sickel weasel jutsu!)_ A gust of wind sliced through the air straight at Shikamaru.

Of course, our genius didn't sit still. He ran off into the trees nearby. (Yes, the arena is so large, it even has trees!) He hid there, and decided to analyze her technique.

Apparently, she wanted to give a good demonstration. "Daikamaitachi no Jutsu!"_(Great Sickel Weasel jutsu!)_ A bigger then normal wind blew out from Temari's fan. The wind gust towards Shikamaru's general area, and sliced a good bit of the small forested area to pieces.

_'Taijutsu is definitely out. She must be proficient in close range with that fan, so that would be suicide. Not to mention that even getting close would be difficult.'_ Shikmaru's brow furrowed. He got down to the ground, and then placed his hands in a 'O' shape. He bowed his head, and closed his eyes.

Temari's brow furrowed. _'Never seen that hand sign before. What's he up to?'_

Naruto smiled. Up in the audience, Asuma smiled as well.

Kurenai looked to the man. "Why are you smiling, Asuma-san?"

"That pose."

She looked down to see Shikamaru. "I've never seen that hand sign before."

"That's because it's not a hand sign. That's what Shikamaru does to win battles."

"What do you mean by that?" Kurenai asked.

"Trust me on this one. Shikamaru will win his match. He's going to put her into a checkmate." Asuma said proudly.

"What? You actually think he's some sort of strategist? If he was so smart, why did he do the worst out of his entire class?" Kurenai asked.

Asuma shook his head. "Of course. You didn't know, because your class never had a Nara in it. Look I'll spell it out for you. Shikamaru, like all the males of his clan, have an I.Q. that can go over 200." He smiled looking down on the kid. "I did an IQ quiz just to make sure. It justified the means. That's the brightest Nara ever to live in this village. Though somehow, the brighter the Nara, the lazier they tend to be. He's even lazier then his father."

"You mean that drunken old coot?" Kurenai asked.

Asuma chuckled. "You have no clue."

Down in the arena.

Shikamaru opened his eyes suddenly. Temari just yawned. "Finally joining us with the living? I was getting bored." Temari yawned once more. "How about we just end this battle?"

Shikmaru smiled.

Up in the stands, Asume grinned. "Check."

Shikamaru brought his hands back into the rat sign. Once more the shadow sped along the ground, racing towards Temari.

"Don't you get it?" The shadow ran passed the line she made. She hooped back even more. The shadow stopped once more. "You can't get me with that." She smiled, but inwardly, she cursed once more. _'Dammit. I didn't see that coming. Okay so apparently the light can effect the range, and since it's just now passed noon, the shadows will only get longer.'_ She looked back up to Shikamaru. Her eyes widened. The shadow suddenly lunged once more. She back tracked again. She looked up to see a parachute making a shadow on the ground. The parachute landed, and the shadow withdrew. "Smart monkey, but not smart enough." She said with pride. She looked back to shikamaru.

He had tied his headband around his eyes. He put his hand in his shuriken bag.

_'What's he up to?'_ Temari thought.

Shikamaru suddenly brought his hand out, and threw something into the middle of the arena.

_'Oh shi-'_

A loud bang erupted in the middle. A bright light made it's way through the air.

Shikamaru then put his hand into a rat sign, not even bothering to pull off his headband.

Asume, up in the stands, grinned. "And mate."

When everyone could see the ground again, they saw that nothing had happened.

Temari scratched out her ears, and then rubbed her eyes. "Man that stung." She looked out to see Shikamaru holding the rat sign, but she didn't see his shadow anywhere. "Wow, a lot good that did you. I'm still shadow fre-" She stiffened. "H-how?"

Shikamaru brought his hand out of the rat sign. "Kage mane no jutsu is a success." He stood up, and assumed a lazy position.

"H-how did you get me? I don't see any shadow." Temari said.

Shikamaru sighed. "Look." He turned his head to the right, making her do the same.

She gasped. Stringing along from Shikamaru was a series of shadows all from the gashes in the ground made by the earlier match's Gatsuuga. The shadows spun around like a web, and she couldn't do the math fast enough in her head of the distance to each one. She was forced to turn her head back to the boy.

He slowly walked forward, making her do the same. _'This is it. He's won, and I can't do anything to stop it.'_ She closed her eyes.

They were now ten feet from each other. Shikamaru raised his hand up.

_'What's he going to do?'_

He opened his mouth. "I give up."

The entirety of the arena went dead silent. Even the proctor was speechless.

Up in the stands, Asuma was laughing. "Typical Nara!"

"What? But why?" Temari asked.

"I have the next 200 moves all planned out in my head, but sadly I don't have the chakra to go any more then 2, resulting in my immediate loss. No matter what scenario I planned out, you always ended up winning. So, I decided to cut my losses here and now." He looked lazily to the proctor. "Well? You heard me. Call it."

"Winner by forfeit Sabaku no Temari." The proctor said.

As if on cue, the shadows went back to normal. "Troublesome woman. Troublesome blonds."

He walked back up to the audience stands. Temari, looking down to the ground, just walked back up to the competitor's box. She sat down in a corner... she looked really sad.

Up in the kage box.

The Hokage was in a fit of laughter. "Typical Nara!" He yelled out. "It's been a long time since I've seen one fight. The battles are never predictable, and just when you think they've won, they throw you for a loop."

"But he definitely seems like a cool headed boy."

"Yeah, he's probably the best candidate we've seen so far for chuunin." The hokage said. "Your daughter seems to have done a good job as well. She kept a cool head, and the only thing that got her was over confidence. She planned out how the Nara's shadow works just from seeing it once in a battle."

"True. She is a very capable kunoichi." The kazekage said with indifference.

–

In a radio room in the ANBU headquarters.

"_HQ, This is team Falcon. Stage Alpha completed. Requesting permission to move to stage Beta. Over."_ A voice over the radio said.

"This is HQ speaking. Roger that team Falcon. You are clear to proceed to stage beta. Over." The man at the controls said. He wrote something down on a piece of paper. He handed it to the ANBU behind him, who read it, and then handed another note back to the operator.

"_Proceeding to stage Beta. Over and out."_

The operator read the note, and then changed a few dials on the instrument. "Y-san. This is HQ. DO you copy? Over."

–

"_Do you copy? Over."_ The radio cackled.

The room was darkly lit. A man with long hair in a pony tail stood up from a body on the ground. "Y-san copies. Over."

"_How did the I.T. go? Over."_ The voice asked.

"Code Ocean confirmed. 4 great white sharks in the water. Over." The man said slowly.

"_Roger that. Code ocean confirmed. 4 GWS in the water. Find some more minnows, then proceed to stage delta. Over."_

"Roger that. Over and out." Y-san left the room.

–

Back in the control room the operator wrote more notes down. He handed them to the ANBU behind him. The ANBU then gave him another note. The Operator looked at it, and then dialed in some knobs. "Dragon leader. This is HQ. Do you copy?"

–

"_Do you copy? Over."_

A man with dark brown hair raised his hand to his neck. He was sitting in the trees, shadows right behind him. "This is dragon leader. Over."

"_Proceed to stage Beta. Please confirm."_

"Roger, proceeding to stage beta confirmed. Over." The man responded. He then switched the dials on his neck for the radio. "Icha, Inu. Stage Beta confirmed. Repeat stage Beta confirmed. Switch to silent run, and move out. Free reign recognized. Hold until signal is given."

"_Copy."_ Two voices answered.

–

Back in the radio room.

The operator was switching dials once more. "Dragon scouts, this is HQ. Do you copy?"

–

Five men on the wall were watching for something. The lead one put his hand to his neck. "This is dragon scout. Over."

"_Code Ocean confirmed. 4 great white sharks in the water. Proceed with plan charlie-omega. Run silent. Confirm."_

"Roger that. Code ocean. 4 GWS in water. Proceeding with plan charlie-omega. Run silent. Over."

"_Confirmed."_

The men all disappeared from the outer walls.

–

Radio room.

The man was switching once more.

"Dragon lair, this is HQ. Do you copy?"

–

A woman sitting nearby a group of people who all had their back facing the middle of a circle raised her hand up. "This is Dragon lair. Over."

"_Stage Beta confirmed. Code Ocean. Plan charlie to omega confirmation required. 4 great white sharks in the water. Confirm."_

"Roger. Code ocean confirmed. Proceeding to stage Beta. Plan charlie to omega confirmation required. 4 GWS threat level recognized." She responded. She grabbed a piece of paper from a nearby person. "Plan charlie to omega is confirmed. Proceed to stage charlie with hound."

"_Confirmed."_

–

In the radio room. The man once again switched dials. He wrote down some notes, and handed them to the ANBU.

"Hound lair, this is HQ. Do you copy?"

–

An Inuzuka woman was standing outside of the Inuzuka compound. "This is Hound leader. Lair is secured. Over."

"_Roger that. Proceed to stage charlie. Over"_ The voice said.

"Roger. Proceeding to stage charlie. Over" The woman answered. She switched frequencies by turning the dial on her neck. "This is Hound leader. Stage charlie is confirmed. Run silent until signal is given. Over."

"_Hai."_ Several voices answered.

–

"The next match shall be Akimichi Chouji v. Rock Lee." The proctor called out.

"Alright!" Chouji called out. He hopped down to the ground.

Lee followed behind shortly. "Woohoo! I've been waiting to fight you Chouji!" Lee said.

"Me too." Chouji smiled. They shook hands and then got into position in the arena.

Naruto smiled. "Strength versus speed. I always wanted to see which one would win. Pure speed? Or pure strength?"

"Are both contestant ready?" The proctor asked.

"HAI!"

"HAJIME!"

Lee rushed forward, as Chouji did a body expansion, making his body puff up. Lee did a leaping kick right at Chouji. Lee's kick was absorbed by the body expansion technique, and Lee had to jump back to avoid getting hit by an enlarged hand.

"I see. This will be a tough match." Lee said.

"Only if you sit still for a moment." Chouji taunted.

Lee smiled. "Not a chance." He raced forward once more, making a beeline for Chouji. He jumped high into the air, and brought his kick down aiming for his opponent's head.

Chouji puffed up, and fell backwards. The kick landed into the belly of Chouji, and bounced right off.

"I can see that standard taijutsu cannot defeat you." Lee said. "I guess I have to take it up a step." He took the arm warmers off of his arms, and underneath them were weights. In fact, the exact ones that he wore around his legs from the prelims. He tossed them to the side like they were nothing, and once more, they made big craters on impact. "Now I am ready."

Chouji bounced his fist off of his chest. "Come at me!" He smiled. Oh yeah, this was going to be good. He lowered his body posture until he was in a sumo wrestler stance. He brought his arms up to his side, and made a grabbing motion with his hands.

Lee got into a running position, and then he disappeared. Random puffs of smoke went up around Chouji, and once the puffs of smoke were gone, a small crater of destroyed ground was left in it's wake. Chouji saw this, and tensed.

Suddenly, Lee showed up right in front of Chouji, already in mid kick aiming for Chouji's head. Chouji couldn't react in time, and his head was bashed to the side. That was it though. No flying off, no dazed enemy. Just a Chouji looking right back at Lee in mid air.

Chouji brought his fist up, and punched forward. Lee, because he wasn't touching the ground, couldn't do anything to stop the oncoming attack. He was hit head on in the stomach.

Lee was sent flying to the other side of the arena, and a dent was made in the wall. Lee was temporarily stunned. Chouji took this opportunity to the fullest. "Nikudan Sensha!" _(Human bullet tank)_ A giant rolling mass of Chouji was heading straight for Lee.

Lee fell out of the crater on his feet, still dazed. He accidentally stepped off to the side.

The human bullet tank missed Lee completely, and a big hole in the arena wall was made.

Lee shook his head, and came back to reality. He looked off to the side to see a big hole in the wall, and he peaked around the corner. Lee gasped, and immediately jumped back from the hole, as the bullet tank came screaming through once more. Chouji stopped in mid air, and landed on his feet. He looked to Lee, determination on his face.

Lee returned the look. "I see you are tougher then you let on, Chouji-san."

"The same could be said to you. That kick earlier stunned me for a split second there." He spit some blood off to the side, and rubbed his jaw.

"How about I take this up another notch." Lee grinned. He didn't want to use that yet, but it looked like there was no choice. Lee jumped high into the air. He made kicking motions at Chouji. At each kick a black metal bar came flying right at Chouji. All of them missed Chouji, and were spread out among the arena field. All in all, there were 8 metal black bars. Each impacted the ground with enough force to make a crater the size of the weights on Lee's arms. Lee landed lightly. "Let's see how you handle my bojutsu." Lee said.

Chouji looked at each of the metal bars in detail. On the end of each was a small pattern. Chouji's eyes widened. _'Bojutsu. Staff techniques.'_

Lee disappeared, and so did four of the metal rods. Lee reappeared with a 4 foot long metal staff. "You ready?" Lee asked.

Chouji gulped. A metal rod of that weight to ones head could do permanent damage. That is, if it was a normal shinobi. Chouji was not a normal shinobi. He pulled out a box, he opened it, and took a green pill. Suddenly, Chouji's energy increased. "I'm ready."

Lee disappeared once more, and Chouji tensed up. His eyes shifting back and forth. Lee appeared right behind Chouji with his staff in mid swing.

Chouji's hand caught the staff. Chouji then swung the staff with as much might as he could. He released his hands, and sent Lee flying.

Lee landed on the arena wall with his feet. He looked back up, and saw Chouji doing another human bullet. Lee got out of the way quickly. _'Looks like I'll have to use maximum strength.'_ Lee thought. He disappeared once more as Chouji got ready to send his human bullet tank at Lee. Lee reappeared once more with an 8 foot long staff. He was spinning the staff at high speeds above his head. He stopped spinning it, and brought his staff down into a standard bojutsu stance.

Chouji was going straight for Lee.

Lee smiled, he spun around once, twice. His hands were on one end of the staff. He swung it with all his might when Chouji got close. "Home run!" (1)

About 36 seconds later, at the forest of death gate number 1. The far side of the forest of death from Konoha.

A guard was standing around, gazing about. He really wanted to see the chuunin exams, but he had his duties.

A loud bang happened nearby, and a plum of dust was shot into the air like a mushroom cloud. The shinobi guard ran up to the epicenter of the sight.

When he reached it, the dust had already cleared, and in the center of the crater formed was a knocked out Akimichi. Chouji, the one that was in the chuunin exams. He scratched his head. "How the hell did you get 17 miles from the arena?" He asked no one.

Back at the arena.

Everyone was shocked. Even Gai.

Gai, because the kid had managed to do something he had wanted to do all his life.

Everyone else because they had never seen an Akimichi get knocked out -literally- of the arena.

The proctor finally caught himself. "Winner by knock out, literally, Rock Lee."

Only two people were heard clapping. Lee looked up to see both Hinata and Naruto congratulating Lee on his knock out victory.

Up in the kage box.

The hokage was laughing once more. "I've never seen that happen before, and that's something I've wanted to do all my life."

The kazekage looked at the hokage like he grew a second head. "Uh, Hokage-san?"

"Yes?"

"Chuunin worthy?" The kazekage asked.

"I think I'll put them both up." The hokage smiled.

"Why is that? Only the one in green seemed to be worthy of chuunin." The Kazekage asked.

"See that big hole in the wall?"

"Yes?"

"That's roughly 2 full feet of concrete destroyed by a single technique." The hokage said.

Oro- Uh, I mean, the kazekage's eyes went wide eyed. "Wow. Now I can see what you mean. This was a literal strength versus speed match."

"Yeah, and you can see that speed wins."

"With a big black stick." The kazekages voice raised happily for a second there.

"I'm... going to pretend I didn't hear that." The hokage said. "Ah, the next match will be the deciding factor in who will be walking away happily and a lot richer."

–

Down in the arena floor.

After Lee went and grabbed all of his weights, the proctor looked up. "The next match will be Uzumaki Naruto v. Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto looked to his teammate. "Well, it looks like I'm up!"

"I know you'll do well out there." Hinata said.

Naruto smiled. He quickly pulled down his mask, pecked her cheek with a kiss, hid his face once more, and then jumped over the rail into the arena saying, "I'm stealing my luck back."

Hinata went bright red. She put her hand to her cheek.

Naruto walked up to the center of the arena where the proctor was standing. "Will Uchiha Sasuke please come to the arena floor?" He asked, continuing to hold a bird sign. His voice echoed all over the building, and even on to part of Konoha. An ANBU came down, and whispered something into the proctor's ear.

The proctor nodded. "Seeing as how Uchiha Sasuke is not here, the winn-"

A loud poof was created in the center of the arena. The cloud of smoke cleared up to show Sasuke and Kakashi standing back to back.

And on cue. "KYAAAA!" Many of the fangirls created that loud screeching sound. "GO SASUKE-KUN!" "YOU'RE THE BEST!" (bleh) "GO SASUKE-KUN! YOU LOOK SO COOL!" (severely washes hands with soap for typing such blasphemy)

Sasuke didn't react at all to the fangirls screaming, which made them scream louder. Sakura took in a deep breath. "(The author has refused to type any more blasphemy out...)" Once she yelled it out, she looked like she wanted to kill a laid back author for no apparent reason.

"So, you decided to show up." Naruto said with a smirk.

Sasuke just 'hn'd, and looked to Kakashi. "What makes him so powerful again? You said this would be a dangerous match, yet I see only the dobe."

Kakashi just sighed. "Don't let appearances fool you." _'Especially the son of a kage.'_

Sasuke looked back to Naruto. "Let's get this over with."

Kakashi looked like he wanted his student to take this more seriously. He looked back to Naruto, his fox on his shoulders. He winced. "Is Kina joining you for this match?"

"Nah. She wont be needed." Naruto said with a smirk beneath his mask.

"Alright." Kakashi looked relieved. He shunshin'd away. He still had an important mission to complete.

"Are both contestants ready?" The proctor asked.

"Just a 'sec." Naruto said. He pulled off his tench coat. It revealed his fox ears and fox tails. The lower half of his face was covered in a mask. Not much was different from the last time people saw him. His straight, yet still somewhat spiky hair had grown a lot, and now it was in a low ponytail down to his lower back. The hair in front covered most of his forehead. "Much better."

"Why take off your coat?" The proctor asked. "Everyone has pretty much seen you."

"Well, except the foreigners." Naruto's eyes smiled with mischief. "'Sides. It's kind of heavy to weigh in a match."

The proctor just shrugged. "Alright. You ready now?"

Naruto looked to Sasuke, a calm expression in his eyes. "Hai." He put his hands behind his back, and stood up straight.

Sasuke just 'hn'd and went into his family's reverse fist stance. It looked like a normal stance, but then again, his hands were open, not closed.

"HAJIME!"

Sasuke took off, and raced straight for the blond, his eyes blazing crimson red with the sharingan.

Naruto just stood there. When Sasuke was within 4 feet of Naruto, a sudden spike in chakra was felt.

Sasuke was thrown back across the arena.

Naruto had yet to move.

Sasuke got back up. "What the hell? Is this some kind of trick, dobe?"

"Me? Oh, heavens no. I'm only part fox for looks." Naruto said with sarcasm.

Sasuke charged him once more, hoping to see what Naruto did.

Naruto turned his back to Sasuke. Sasuke grinned. _'Never turn your back on an enemy.'_ He lunged forward to hit Naruto in the back.

Naruto just simply did a back flip to dodge.

Naruto's world slowed down while in mid air. He wanted to hit the idiot juuuust right. At the peek of his back flip, Naruto brought his hand back, and punched downwards, towards Sasuke, not touching him.

Naruto's world sped up once more. He landed on the ground, his hands behind his back.

A big cloud of dust had risen up in front of Naruto. "What happened? All I did was a backflip. Proctor, did you see what happened, because I sure didn't." Naruto's voice was that of innocence.

The proctor shook his head. "Nope sorry."

"Ah. Do you think he might be attracted to the ground? I mean, with all those girls chasing him, he'd have SOME reaction to them, but nooo. Makes you think..." Naruto went into a thinking pose.

While Naruto was 'thinking,' the dust cloud cleared up to show Sasuke still face first in the ground. He twitched once, and then got up. _'The hell? One second my fist was going to make contact with the dobe, the next, I'm kissing the ground!'_ he looked over to said 'dobe'.

Flames rose in Sasuke's mind. He turned off his sharingan, did some hand signs. "Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!" _(Fire style: Great fireball jutsu)_

A flaming fireball hit Naruto dead on, while he was still 'thinking.' Sasuke smirked. "No way he could've survived that!" Sasuke declares.

When the smoke cleared, Naruto was still standing there in his 'thinking' pose, completely untouched.

"The hell?" Sasuke goes. "Fine. If that's the way you want it." He pulled off some more hand signs. "Katon: Hosenka no jutsu!" _(Fire style: Phoenix Fire jutsu)_ A wave of smaller fireballs went straight at Naruto.

When the fireballs hit Naruto, they went straight through him. Naruto then disappeared.

"A clone?" Sasuke asked.

"Not really." Naruto said standing behind him. "Just _really_ fast."

Sasuke whipped his head around so fast, Naruto thought the boy should check for whiplash. Sasuke growled. "Take me seriously!"

Naruto's eyes go from a smiling demeanor to that of a cold collected one. "Okay. You asked for it." Naruto disappeared.

Sasuke looked around wildly. He turned his sharingan back on, hoping to find the enemy. He'd catch flares of chakra, but he could never catch sight of Naruto. When Sasuke turned his head back to face forward, Naruto was standing right in front of him. "Boo." And Sasuke went flying like a blur. He hit the other side of the arena.

Naruto ran forward, and did a jump in the air. "Sori!"_(Arch)_ He brought his kick down to the ground and a wave of chakra actually seen this time lashed out towards Sasuke's position. Sasuke dashed to the side before it hit, but he was in aw that the wave of chakra was 10 feet high. He could even see how the technique was performed thanks to his sharingan. He smiled.

Naruto brought himself to a full standing position. "Come on. I said I would go all out, but what about you? I'm hardly breaking a sweat here. At least Tenten could get me working out, this feels like a stroll in the park."

Sasuke ground his teeth. He dashed forward once more.

Naruto brought his arm up, and punched much too early to hit Sasuke, but the boy was launched back into the wall behind him.

Naruto slowly walked up. "That can't be all your tricks."

"It's not!" Sasuke said, and then disappeared.

"Oh? So you're light on your feet then?" Naruto asked. Naruto raised his hand above his head, and then his feet broke the ground as he held Sasuke's kick back. "Seriously though, when are you going to get real?"

Sasuke was thoroughly pissed. He knew Kakashi taught him this next one for a reason. He jumped up to the arena wall, and did 5 hand signs. He focused his chakra into his right hand. "Chidori!" He called out, and raced straight towards Naruto.

Naruto eyed him the entire time he was running down the wall. Sasuke's hand looked like it was holding lightning, and it was tearing up the ground as he ran forward. When he got 10 feet away, He brought his hand up to hit Naruto dead on with the technique.

5 feet away, Naruto pusled his chakra, but Sasuke went straight through it. Naruto eyes widened.

A hand burst out the opposite side of Naruto's body. Naruto's eyes stayed wide. The hand going through him was painful, yes, but it was nothing like the pain that Mizu Kanryuu training put him through. What surprised him was that the chidori cut through his Karada Joseki_(Body expelling)_ like a hot knife through butter. Hell, it didn't even come close to the torture he felt on that night he got the scare on his neck.

Sasuke pulled his hand out of Naruto, and turned away from his opponent, fully expecting Naruto to fall over from pain. When Sasuke didn't hear what he expected to hear and he felt a chakra spike, he turned back around. It was his turn to be surprised now. Naruto's wound had healed over, and all you could see was his bare skin where his hand had gone through.

Naruto was looking at Sasuke with calm eyes. "That's it? You expect me to fall over from that?"

Sasuke didn't answer.

"Oh come now. Surely the 'almighty Uchiha' has more then that." Naruto said slowly.

Sasuke charged him again, and engaged in a taijutsu battle. The battle was one sided though, as Naruto wasn't even trying to attack. He was only blocking or dodging Sasuke's move. He finally saw an opening in Sasuke's form, and took it. He grabbed a kick going straight for him, squeezed tight, and then flipped Sasuke's body over himself. Sasuke landed on his back, and quickly got to his feet.

"Come now, surely, you can do better then that." Naruto said.

Sasuke was only getting madder. "Oh yeah? Let's see how you like you're own tricks back at you!?" Sasuke yelled. He brought his fist back, and started to concentrate and compress chakra just how he saw Naruto did.

Naruto sweat dropped. "Uh, Sasuke... you might not want to do that."

"Why? Because you're afraid it'll beat you?" Sasuke grinned.

"No I meant that it wi-" Naruto tried to say, but Sasuke punched forward.

"AAAAAAH! It burns! MAKE IT STOP!" Sasuke yelled. He fell to his knees. Naruto didn't move from the attack though. Sasuke did make a wave, believe that. It was so weak though, it didn't really even tap Naruto.

"Too late." Naruto sighed, and walked up to him. "See, this is what happens when you steal a very hard to earn technique. Especially one that requires months or even years of training before hand." Naruto shook his head.

He looked to the proctor. "You might as well call it. Sasuke's chakra pathways are nearly destroyed in his right arm."

"And how can you tell?" The proctor asked.

"Uh, my technique. My style. I outta know the consequences of using this one. Besides, Sasuke here, being an Uchiha, is a fire nature, and his arm is probably burning on the inside." Naruto said.

Sasuke scoffed. "This pain is nothing!" He gritted his teeth, and stood up. He let his right arm hang loosely. When Sasuke brought his head up, many people were wondering about the marks now covering his face and arms. He twitched his right arm, but held back a gasp of pain coming from it. He stared right at Naruto, his sharingan blazing from a forceful activation due to the chakra now leaking from the hickey on his shoulder.

Kina hopped down next to Naruto. _'Kit, watch it. He's gone and activated that stupid hickey!'_

"_You mean that mark on his neck?"_

_'Yes! He's more volatile now. I'll give you permission to use Sage mode if you deem it necessary. Finish this quickly. The more he uses that seal, the more he falls under the influence of that damned pedophile.'_

Up in the kage box.

The Kazekage sneezed.

Down on the arena floor.

Naruto nodded. If he was given permission to use sage mode, then this meant that Sasuke was going overboard.

Sasuke took one last breath of air, and then charged Naruto at a fast pace. The ground was being torn up he was moving so fast. He brought his left up to hit Naruto dead on.

Naruto's face was unmoving. He used a Karada Joseki_(Body expelling)_ to test out Sasuke's ability. Sasuke was pushed back for a mere second, and then dashed forward once more. He brought his arm up to hit Naruto.

Naruto could see why he needed to step it up. He lowered his head, and closed his eyes. "Senjutsu: kai." He said slowly. One of the seals on his arms lit up, and create a high pitched tone before going dim, and then disappearing.

Naruto brought his face back up, and Sasuke was suddenly thrown back.

The crowd was given a brief glimpse at Naruto before he disappeared. His hair turned snow white. His fur stayed silver, but the tips of his ears and tails turned black. Naruto opened his eyes just a split second before he disappeared. The pupils were a normal black circle like always, but the irises turned a deep emerald green.

A loud bang was heard, and Sasuke was seen flying into the air from a cloud of smoke. Naruto appeared right next to Sasuke, and was in a mid flip, one that would make his right foot slam right into Sasuke's stomach. Two words exited Naruto's mouth right before his foot hit Sasuke. "Jiki Shindou!"_(Direct Impact) _Naruto's foot hit Sasuke's stomach dead on.

What happened next would be hard to describe by anyone. Sasuke and Naruto were about 50 feet in the air when the kick happened. Even Sarutobi would admit that even he didn't see the point from where Sasuke's body was hit, and an explosion of dust on the ground.

Naruto landed on the ground about 2 seconds later, his hair and eyes already back to normal.

Kina added a thought to her mental records. _'2 second release of Sage mode during a battle confirmed. No adverse side effects found in his body at all. It's like his body can naturally use sage mode like it was nothing, despite the entire chakra affinity change.'_

The proctor walked forward to see what had happened to Sasuke. When the dust cleared, it showed a completely knocked out Sasuke in a 10 foot crater.

The proctor sighed. "Did you really have to use that much power, Naruto-san?" The proctor asked. "Seriously, this is 2 out of 2 times you've been in an arena and destroyed said arena."

"Hey, Chouji destroyed the wall." Naruto pointed at the big whole still evident.

"Yes, but that is at least avoidable. A big whole in the center of the arena is not."

A fangirl had run up to the crater. "Who cares about the crater!? Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" More fangirls got around the crater a dead looking Sasuke was in.

The proctor sighed. He picked up a radio headset from his back pouch, and put it on. "Air bird 2. This is ground unit 43. Do you copy?"

In an AC-130 in mid air.

"This is Air bird 2. We copy out ground unit 43. Over." The gun crew master responded.

Down on the ground.

"Coordinates for 'annoying fangirls' found. Please fire three full rounds to coordinates 83, 76, elevation 54. Over." The proctor replied.

"_Roger that. Commencing 'annoying fangirl' fire cover in 10 seconds. Over."_

The proctor quickly grabbed Sasuke, and said to Naruto. "RUN!" He shunshin'd away.

Naruto instantly moved away from the fangirls, grabbed his trench coat, and hopped back up to the competitor's box.

The fangirls looked confused. "What's going on?" one asked.

A loud bang was heard in the sky, and a screeching noise was apparent. It got louder and louder until an explosion occurred in the center of the arena. Five smaller explosions occurred. The pitter patter of smaller things hitting the ground started up as well. Another bang, another loud screech, and another explosion. Five smaller explosion again. One last bang, and an explosion after the screech got to it's loudest again. The pitter patter of smaller things stopped as well. Once the dust cleared, no fangirl could be seen, and the ground of a literal mess of destroyed ground and rocks, instead of the normal grassy plain and trees. There was much rejoicing among the crowd.

The proctor reappeared empty handed, already having given Sasuke over to the medics nearby. "Winner by knock out Uzumaki Naruto." He was acting like those last few explosions never happened.

Hinata glomped Naruto. "I knew you could do it, Naruto-kun! You looked amazing out there!"

Naruto returned the smile. "Thanks for cheering me on. I heard you throughout the entire match."

Hinata blushed. "It's because I.. I..."

Naruto pecked her on the cheek. "I think I understand." Naruto smiled.

Hinata blushed deep red, and then pounced him once more just to cuddle on top of him.

Kina was sitting down nearby. "Ah, young love." She cooed.

Hiraku came up to her, and cuddled against her master. "They look good together."

"That they do, Raku-chan." Kina smiled.

Up in the kage box.

"Fork it over." Sarutobi said, his hand out towards the kazekage. The kazekage sighed, picked through his robe, and then handed over 10 thousand ryo.

"Fine, you win." The kazekage said.

Sarutobi chuckled as he counted the bills. "1 one hundred. 2 one hundred. 3..."

The counting continued, and each one irritated the Suna kage even more. Finally one it got up to 2 thousand, the kage couldn't stand it anymore. _'That's it! I can't stand it. To hell with the plan, I want to see Konoha burn NOW!'_

The kage twitched his finger in a curving motion. It was the signal to start the attack.

He waited for a moment. Nothing happened.

"4 one thousand, 5 one hundred." Sarutobi kept counting in the retarded fashion he knew would urk his former student. His smile apparent the entire time.

_'Why the hell isn't anything happening!?'_ He asked in his mind. He did the signal again. And again. Still nothing.

Sarutobi suddenly stopped. "What's wrong with your finger, Kazekage-san?"

"Why, whatever do you mean, Hokage-_san_." The san was stretched out a little more unevenly then usual.

Sarutobi kept smiling. "Oh, just that constant and irritating twitching of your finger there." The kazekage then started to do it faster. "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were making a signal for something to happen." Sarutobi's smile then held a little mischief in them, but an innocent voice played his tone.

The Kazekage's left eye began to twitch in coordination to his finger twitching. _'What the hell is wrong with my people!?'_

The hokage was on the ground laughing on the inside. _'Oh, Naruto. I'm going to have to thank you for those painful lessons in pranking later.'_ Sarutobi added in his head. He went back to counting, and made a signal by winking his right eye at a nearby ANBU. The ANBU saluted back, and disappeared. "4 one thousand, 8 one hundred. 4 one thousand, 9 one hundred. 5 one thousan-"

"Attention!" The proctor said after an ANBU disappeared near him. "Due to there being severe damage to the arena floor, we will be holding our half time show now while it is being prepared. Please, enjoy the show!" He bowed, and disappeared.

A large machine echoed out from somewhere nearby, as a solid concrete slab was being pushed over the top of the arena from underneath the crowd. After a while of screeching, the entire arena was covered over by the concrete slab.

"Oh, that's our cue, Kazekage-san!" The hokage said as he stood up.

"W-what do you mean?" The Kazekage asked.

"Don't you remember? We talked it over messenger hawk." Sarutobi said.

"O-oh, r-right." The Kazekage said.

Sarutobi's smile widened. He shunshin'd, only to reappear on top of the concrete slab. The Kazekage followed suit.

Sarutobi just aloud chakra to flow to his throat. "I have a special treat for the audience today!" His voice echoed out to the audience. "Today," 30 ANBU showed up around the outer edges of the top of the arena, "We shall uncover and punish," The ANBU did several handsigns, and then slammed their hands on the concrete beneath them, "The one man who has threatened this hidden village more then any others," A loud hum occurred, and a large seal design started to glow beneath both the Kazekage's and the Hokage's feet, "A despicable man who has killed more of our shinobi and kunoichi then even the Kyuubi," Jiraiya poofed in next to Sarutobi, "A man who has done traitorous actions of unspeakable terror." Sarutobi finalized. The seal beneath their feet disappeared, and suddenly, The Kazekage couldn't move. Sarutobi turned to look at the Kazekage. "Sununushi Orochimaru. We meet once more."

At that the Kazekage's eyes widened. Chains came flying out of the ground, and wrapped around the man's arms. He felt his arms being pulled down. Jiraiya appeared behind the Kazekage, and kicked the back of his knees. The man fell to his knees.

Sarutobi approached the kneeling man. He put his hand on the Kazekag'es hat, and pulled it off. He threw it aside, and grabbed the man's face. He tore it off to reveal a sickly white man staring disbelievingly at the Hokage. "H-how?"

The hokage smiled. "You seriously thought you could sneak 43 spies into Konohagakure, and not expect one to screw up?"

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "Be that as it may, my body guards will save me."

A silent silence passed through the air. The Hokage looked back and forth.

"I said... 'Be that as it may, my BODY GUARDS WILL SAVE ME!'" He yelled out. "Where the hell are they?" He asked nobody.

The hokage answered anyways. "Oh, those 4. They're probably being tortured by Ibiki right about now."

Down in the T.I. Section of the ANBU headquarters.

"DAMN RIGHT!" Ibiki yelled out to his prisoners. "DAMN RIGHT YOU WILL BEG, YOU WILL PLEAD FOR MERCY! BUT YOU WILL NEVER GET IT!" A creepy smile etched onto his face.

Who says Ibiki doesn't enjoy his job?

Back up on the arena cover.

Orochimaru was in pure terror right now. He had already tried to switch with a mud clone, but he could never form the chakra right.

Sarutobi smiled. "Having trouble forming chakra, are we?" The hokage asked. "You remember the seal that was under our feet?"

Orochimaru's eyes widened.

The hokage looked up to the audience. "Back in the day, I wasn't known as 'the professor' for only knowing ninjutsu. They always said I know more then 'one thousand jutsus.' Fuinjutsu is a jutsu all the same. And Jiraiya here is a master of the fuinjutsu arts. We fine tuned this big seal juuuust for you, my former pupil."

Jiraiya laughed. "How about the time we killed an entire army right under the commander's nose, Orochimaru?"

"What time, we never did that!"

"Oh, you don't remember? It only happened 10 minutes ago." Jiraiya smiled.

Orochimaru's eyes widened. "KABUTO!" He yelled. There was no reply.

"Oh, and that reminds me. You're playboy toy is currently being tortured by Anko at the moment. So is Yoroi Akado, so the next match Gaara has already won by forfeit." Sarutobi said, not even facing the snake nuke-nin.

Orochimaru looked for any way out of this. His chakra was messed up. He was chained to the concrete slab that would take Tsunade at full strength to destroy. His body guards and spies were all taken out of action.

"Orochimaru. I want to bring something to light." Sarutobi said. "You always said that the snake is the ultimate predator. Well, here's a news flash." He turned to look Orochimaru directly in the eye. "Snakes are eaten by wild boars, coyotes, mongooses, foxes, raccoons, and finally large birds. Especially, Hawks," Captain of the ANBU Hawk showed up at that moment. "And Eagles."

Hawk brought his hand up to his neck. "Operation: Eagle is moving to stage Omega." He said. He brought out a green flare, lit it, and then threw it high into the sky.

Orochimaru's eyes widened.

Howling was heard all across Konohagakure, and all of the inside insurgents for Orochimaru were killed on sight by Inuzuka and Hyuuga attackers. Orochimaru's army never stood a chance.

The ANBU surrounding the arena concrete slab then started chanting. "Tori_(Rooster)_, I_(Boar)_, Inu_(dog)_, Ne_(rat)_, U_(Rabbit)_, Tatsu_(Dragon)_," They were performing hand signs, and calling the names to each as they did it, "Tora_(Tiger)_, Ushi_(Ox),_ Tori, Ne, Uma_(Horse)_," Chakra was builing up in the air. Jiraiya, and Hawk had joined in, "Saru_(Saru)_, Hitsuji_(Ram)_, Inu, U..." They continued on for a few minutes, and Orochimaru's eyes only grew wider in fear.

Sarutobi spoke up. "Orochimaru. For crimes against Konohagakure."

"Ne, U, Tori. Mi_(snake)_..."

"For harming the general public. For committing crimes of unspeakable proportions to experiment on humans."

"Uma, U, Ushi, Tatsu..."

"You shall be given the ultimate punishment." Orochimaru was struggling to get out of the the chains holding him down.

"Tora, Ushi, Uma, Ne, U..." The chanting was getting faster and faster.

"Death." Sarutobi then bit his thumb, and did five hand signs.

"Hitsuji!" They all ended on the ram sign, and held it. A chakra spike held in the air. Sarutobi opened his mouth. "Tokenshie Zetsumei."_(Immortal death)_

More chains sprouted out of the grounds, and wrapped around Orochimaru until he couldn't move a single inch in any direction, yet he continued to struggle.

No one else could see it or hear, but Sarutobi and Orochimaru looked up to see the Shinigami floating above Orochimaru looking down at him. It's large overbearing tattered black robes. The rankling of chains in the air. It held a large extremely delicately and deadly designed scythe in one bony hand. The other hand held a chain with a clack swinging at the end of it. The air grew dank, the clock froze in mid swing, and time froze all around Orochimaru and Sarutobi.

Orochimaru froze in place.

Cold breath exited the hood of the figure.(2) **"**su-_Su_-_**Sununushi **Oro-**Orochimaru.** _we-_We-__**We meet at last."**_ The voice was dark, calm, and sounded bored. One of the most distinct features about his speech was an echoing whisper before he talked. **_"_**the-_The_-_**The crimes against you are founded,** __an_-_**and the punishment will be upheld.** yo_-_Yo_-**_Your soul shall be banished to the thirteenth plain of existence for all eternity."_** It looked to Sarutobi, and It spoke once more. **_"_**hi-_Hi-**Hiruzen Sarutobi.** _I-_I-**I thank you for upholding the contract we agreed upon.** _yo-_Yo_-_Y**ou have delivered the second most wicked soul in this dimension to me.** _f-_F-**For that, **I-**I congratulate you as well."**_

At this Sarutobi had to ask. "Second? Who is the first?"

It laughed. It didn't hold any happiness as It's laugh echoed, so It scared the shit out of them both. **_"_**ye-_Ye-**Yes.** Th-**That one's soul is still beyond my grasp.** _I-_I-**I had sent Hiraku,** my-__**my kitten,** he-__**here to retrieve that one's soul.** _as-_As-**Ask her for more information.** _mean-_Mean-**Meanwhile,"**_ It turned back to looked directly at Orochimaru, **_"_**yo-_Yo-**You are coming with me."**_ It reached down, and It's hand entered Orochimaru's body. The hand came out of the body with a ghost white substance, and Orochimaru's body grew dim. The Shinigami held the white substance up to It's mouth, and then proceeded to slurp it up. The Shinigami twitched once or twice.

"Shinigami-sama." A voice rang out.

Both Sarutobi and the Shinigami turned to see Nelrim standing near the edge of the arena.

"nel-_Nel-**Nelrim Gin.**_ or-_Or-**Or should I say,** Mer-**Merlin Mekami?** _wi-_Wi-**Wizard of the god of eyes."**_ It said.

Nelrim bowed his head. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Shinigami."

**"**wha-_Wha-**What does a Verallian want with me?"**_ It asked.

Nelrim's eyes widened for a moment, and then narrowed once more. "I came here to give you a message from my predecessor, Gin."

**"**ah-_Ah-**Ah, the true heir to Siete,** the-**the king of Verallians.** _Wel-_Wel-**Well, what is it?** _I-_I-**I'm busy today."**_ It said.

Nelrim's eyes grew wider for an instant, and then his head hung low. He rose his head again, and spoke. _"Shinigami, I have sent my partner here to tell you that Siete Imperecedero will soon be yours."_ A voice very much unlike Nelrim's came from his mouth. _"I have grown tired of his games, and his dead heart shall soon be ripped from his body. I know this cannot kill him, so I ask you for your help to rip his black soul from his body when I do. If I should fail though, I do not wish to be his pet. You know what that means, Shinigami."_

The Shinigami laughed once more, and it sent shivers up Sarutobi's spine. **_"_**Tel-_Tel-**Tell your partner that I accept his call for help.** _I-_I-**I shall watch his battle with his immortal father,** _an-_an-**and kill the loser."**_

Nelrim bowed. The message received, and his task done, he disappeared.

The clock the Shinigami was holding started to swing once more, and time continued on with one less soul. The Shinigami faded away.

Orochimaru screamed out like he was being tortured, and his skin turned a dark red. His skin soon started to flake, and fall apart. After a while, his entire body turned dark red, and Orochimaru went limp. His body turned into dust, and was swept away by the wind. The chains silently fell into the ground, like they were never really there.

All of the ANBU, and Jiraiya fell to the ground in exhaustion.

Sarutobi kept standing. He was a little out of breath, but nothing biggy. The reason he used the least amount was because he didn't have to focus his chakra as hard as the others. No one but Sarutobi knew it, but he was the only one to know what really happened just now. All they saw was Orochimaru turning to dust. The reason for this was because Sarutobi had signed a summoning contract with the Shinigami. Something only the kage of each major village could sign.

The others weren't so lucky. They had to perform all 366 signs that comes with a summoning. The first 361 signs already being done from signing a contract, which let's a signer to only perform the final 5 signs to summon. In theory, anyone could summon any contract animal if they knew what the hand signs were.

Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief. Summoning the Shinigami is always a task on one's soul.

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama." A females voice asked.

Sarutobi looked back to see Sabaku no Temari standing just outside of the barrier. "I hate to break up this execution, but what happened to my father?"

"Oh, he was found dead 1 week back. We instantly knew something was wrong, so we investigated what went wrong. We knew long before the chuunin exams even started that Orochimaru was planning something."

"So, our despicable excuse for a father, and more importantly, the fourth Kazekage, is dead?" She asked.

Sarutobi nodded. "Yes."

Temari looked down for a moment. "Wha... what about the Suna army that surrounded the city?"

"All either killed or captured, along with sound forces." Sarutobi said. "And since you knew about the invasion, you were obviously a part of it."

Temari's eyes went wide. "Bu-but I had no clue that our kage had bee-"

Sarutobi chuckled. "Yes. I know that the entirety of Sunagakure had been misled and tricked by that despicable man, but..." Sarutobi paused.

"I-I was only following orders." Temari's eyes widened.

"I'm sad to say this, but Sunagakure has broken our piece treaty, and as thus, all Suna nins are to be captured and interrogated until they can prove that they didn't know about Orochimaru." Sarutobi said.

Two ANBU appeared behind Temari. Kankuro was heard being dragged off by three ANBU behind Temari. Temari was then tied up.

"Wait." A voice called out.

Everyone looked to see Inoichi standing near the Hokage holding a stack of papers. "I have proof here that all Suna nins were tricked. None of them knew about Orochimaru being the Kazekage. They were desperate for money, and it turns out that an S-ranked mission was given to the village by the Otokage, the sound villages Kage. They had no clue who it was, but they needed the money to keep running. It turns out the the wind Daimyo had pulled out all of his mission, and in turn his money, away from Sunagakure over an argument about something." He put the papers in the Hokage's hands.

The hokage looked it over, and everyone waited for the hokage's call.

After about 5 minutes of reading it all over, the Hokage frowned deeply. He did two hand signs, and the wind Daimyo appeared near the Hokage.

The Daimyo's guards were scared stiff. They couldn't fight a kage. The Daimyo was on his own. The wind Daimyo was a plump old man who hadn't worked out a day in his life. He looked like he had it all easy.

"Fire Daimyo-dono. Could I ask you to come down please?" The hokage asked.

Normally, he would never make a public appearance. This was not normal. The Daimyo, a young slightly out of shape, but otherwise skinny, man came down to the center of the arena. His face was neutral, and his eyes glazed a solid green. Black hair hung to his shoudlers. "Yes?" He asked as soon as he was in normal talking distance of the Hokage.

The hokage handed him the papers. "Read this, if you please Daimyo-dono." The Hokage still standing strong, and made a piercing glare at the wind Daimyo.

After about 3 more minutes of reading, the papers were dropped by the Daimyo. "I've read enough. This man is despicable. Honestly!" He shouted to the people. "Killing off your own hidden village because of a silly little game!?"

Jiraiya picked the papers up, and read them as well. He went straight to the third page.

_The Kasekage and the wind Daimyo were sitting in the Kazekage's office. The wind Daimyo had to make a visit to see if 'his little village' was being kept up with._

Jiraiya skimmed over. Yada-yada important business. Business taxes. Blah-blah. Ah, here it is.

_When all the business seemed down, the Kage brought out several bottles. "Shall we have our usual card games?"_

_The Daimyo smiled. "Sure, why not?"_

_After 5 rounds of the Kage winning every round, the Daimyo slapped his cards to the table. "I've had it! 5 games in a row, and you get a royal flush everytime? I call bullshit!"_

"_Um, that's what happens when you play games with a shinobi... even more with a kunoichi."_

"_That's it. I've had it with you despicable cheaters! I'm pulling all assets out of this village!"_

_The kazekage went wide eyed. "Come on! It's only a card game. No need to throw a hissy fit." The Kazekage got up from behind his desk._

"_I mean it. Gone. Bye bye. Toodaloe! Saiyonara! All those missions and money are going elsewhere!" And the door slammed on the kazekage._

Jiraiya dropped the papers on the ground as well. "That's just plain stupid." Jiraiya said.

"I know, right?" The fire Daimyo said. He turned back to the wind Daimyo. "You do realize that all of your guards do come from Sunagakure, right?" He said. "I mean, I do my best not to piss them off, and they do their best not to piss me off. That's the relationship we have. You on the other hand seem to have not realized that." He gestured to the guards standing behind him. "I mean seriously, my guards are all konoha origin. They still hold a strong relation to the village, but will protect me with all their might, as that is their mission." He turned back to the idi- wind Daimyo. "If you pulled all assets out of Sunagakure, then that means your guards aren't getting paid full price for their job."

At that all the wind guards went wide eyed, and disappeared.

The fire Daimyo just laughed. "Oh, that's just plain hilarious. So, what shall we do with him, Hokage-dono?" He asked Sarutobi.

The hokage massaged his beard. "Prison?" He asked.

"Nah, not good enough."

"Exile?" Hokage tried again.

"Still needs to add something." The fire Daimyo said. "Ah, I got it. He looks like he's never worked out in his life. How about we sell him into the slave program in Iwagakure?"

"Hmm. That would work out mostly. Of course, we'd have to work out his fat."

"Get him some proper manners." The Daimyo said.

"And permanently seal away all of his memories." Jiraiya added.

At that the wind Daimyo went wide eyed. "Please. Not that! Anything but that!" A bag was placed over his head, and he was dragged away.

"So, shall we continue the exam?" The hokage asked after a moments silence.

"Sure. It's the second round of fights now, right?" The fire Daimyo asked.

"Yes. It is, Daimyo-dono." The hokage.

"Good, I want to see that Hyuuga again. She looks like a good chuunin candidate. That Uzumaki character is quite foxy one as well. By the way, I know I shouldn't ask this, but where did all those fangirls go? I know you really didn't kill them." He shivered when he said fangirls. "And here's another question, what's an AC-130?"

"Oh, fangirls exist? I wasn't aware of that." The Hokage answered with a knowing smile.(3) "As for the AC-130... what the hell is that?"

"A flying metal bird that you guys called on a radio?" The Daimyo asked.

"Say what? You're talking crazy now. We don't have giant metal birds." The hokage laughed. He turned somber, but a smile still held his face. "You heard about the news?"

"About the poor old wind Daimyo? He was killed yesterday." The fire Daimyo said smiling.

"Yes, it was such a sad tragedy. There were no survivors. The Kazekgae died in the ride with him." The hokage said smiling, and letting his KI leak.

Everyone in the arena got the subtle hint.

The wind Daimyo died with the Kazekage in a traveling accident. Giant metal birds don't exist. And fangirls are a myth. Period.

Tbc...

1, This was my way of saluting Flcl! And then kicking it in the ass.

2, Do NOT think that how the Shinigami is talking right here is stuttering. As I described, it's a whisper before the talk. An echo of things to come.

3, Omake at the end.

Well, this is the first half of the chuunin exams. The first five fights. The last four fights shall be played out next chapter.

Please tell me how I did. Seriously, I went over these fights again, and again. I feel like they aren't smooth enough though. If you see anything that could make them smoother, then please tell me. Did I go overboard with description? Or was there not enough?

Did anyone like my version of the shinigami here? How about Orochimaru dieing? I kinda planned Orochimaru dieing from the start, but I didn't know how to continue the exams. Sooo... that second bit about the Kazekage and the wind Daimyo dieing was a shot in the dark for me... sigh.

AC-130 moment. Yes, yes I know, they don't exist in this dimension. That was for pure humor, and I wanted to get rid of the Uchiha in a hurry. As for what it is for you non-military types, it's a 4 propeller engine plane that can carry many different variations of troops, bombs, or cargo. This version of the AC-130 gunship is the 'spectre' version, carrying 3 different gun types. A 105mm anti-ground howitzer fires once every 5 seconds, a 40mm anti-ground L/60 bofors cannon fired every second, and 2 20mm anti-infantry Vulcan cannons(think mini-gun, but bigger). The big explosions were caused by the 105mm exploding shells fired from the AC-130, and the smaller explosions were caused by the 40mm rounds that were also an exploding variant. The pitter patter were the sounds of the 20mm rounds hitting the ground. If you want a comparison with other things, a battle ship uses 210mm guns for the smaller ones to 460mm guns for the biggest ones ever recorded. An AA gun uses rounds ranging from 20mm to 45mm, solid to flak rounds. An AAA (Anti-aircraft artillery or triple-A) uses anything from 45mm to 85mm flak rounds. A mortar shell fired from an infantry ground unit fires 155mm exploding shells. A .50 caliber (.5 inches) sniper rifle has enough force behind it to knock you on your butt if you don't know how to use it.

There's enough force in a 105mm round to obliterate a house in a single shot.

Omake: Fangirls... their doomed fate.

Ibiki had a truly unique job. Not only did he get the ability to torture and interrogate people, he also got to brainwash a few of them as well.

"Listen up, Kiddies!" Ibiki said as he entered a dark hallway. "Time to get up."

Moans were heard through the hallway.

Ibiki walked in, and flicked a light switch. A window on one side of the hallway lit up. In that window, one of the people chained up on the wall could see Sasuke chained to a chair.

"SASUKE-KUN!" The fangirls screamed.

Luckily, Ibiki put in ear plugs BEFORE he came down to this room. He smiled. "Yes, this is your dear little Sasuke. Let's release him shall we?" He clicked a button on the wall, and then performed three hand signs hurriedly.

A soft hum was heard in the air, and soon all the girl's eyes glazed over.

The 'Sasuke' poofed away from the chair.

_'The genjutsu has been placed.'_ Ibiki thought. _'Now to watch them squirm in their worst nightmare.'_

From one of the girl's perspective.

Sasuke stood up, and looked around. He was perfectly fine, and the girl sighed at that. Another girl approached him, and begged to have sex with him. Sasuke flatly refused her, and then started to ignore her. He turned around, and saw that a white man with brown hair was standing over him. He told the boy to come to him, and the boy did.

After that, the white man undressed the boy, and...(Author refuses to go any farther)

From Ibiki's perspective.

The girls were crying and screaming. They yelled for the boy to come to them, but he ignored them. It truly was a fangirl's worst nightmare. Their affections were all wasted on a gay boy.

(evil laugh)


	17. Chapter 17: The third exam

Disclamer: If I actually owned Naruto, he would be a badass in the cannon. The Ocs I do own ARE badass.

Vote poll: It's still open guys. After the next chapter is posted, the poll will be closed, and Naruto's fate will be sealed onto one of three chosen paths. Choose wisely for those who have not chosen. Two of the three paths are fighting for first place, but it looks like the first choice will win. 32 unique votes last time I checked.

Vote info is on top of chapter 12.

I want to give a shout out to several people.

To Godo: Thanks for all the insight on different abilities man, as well as lending me the blood line. You've been a great help to me when I was just starting out.

To Fang: He's the original inspiration for this fanfic. Logism, the seventh sense are his, and THE chakra hops.

To Queenwitch: I like to thank Queen for making nice reviews, and boosting my spirit to keep on writing.

To Ranmacat: Short and sweet reviews. Thanks cat.

To anyone else I missed: Sorry, I just had reviews from many different people. mckenmic, raw666, and Wyrtha to name a few.

Now, on to the fic!

–

Chapter 17: Third Exam Finals

Eyes behind a pair of glasses slowly opened on a silver haired shinobi. His eyes darted back and forth as he tested several of his muscles. He was currently sitting in a wooden chair, found that his hands were bound behind his back, and that his feet were chained to the floor. His eyes widened in fear. He knew exactly where this was.

Konoha prison. To be exact, the Torture and Interrogations department.

He felt for his chakra. He could feel it, but he couldn't touch his chakra at all. It's like his chakra control has been completely obliterated.

"My, my. It seems that someone's awake." Cooed a female's voice in the darkness around him. A single light lit up above him.

He still couldn't see the entire layout of the room, but he could see he was sitting in the middle of a dark room. Steps echoed through the room.

A female's foot entered the light, and another step was heard. A couple of steps later, and Yakushi Kabuto was staring straight into the eyes of Mitarashi Anko. The snake mistress. She was currently smiling, and a look of evil played about eyes.

"'Bout time you woke up. I was going to wake you up soon anyways." Her voice played in a sadistic tone.

Kabuto shivered. The way her voice said it made him think of horrible things. He steeled his voice and his face; the ability to do through years of training. "What do you want?" He said in a monotone voice.

Anko's smile widened even more. "Can't a girl just come by to say 'hi' to the one man who **betrayed her**?" Anko's smile had disappeared. In it's place, she was gritting her teeth and growling. Her eyes held deep hatred in them, and were also watering up.

Kabuto's eyes widened. Now he was truly afraid.

_Flashback_

_Kabuto was currently working on his medical skills. His sensei, Orochimaru, said he could become very advanced in that field._

"_Hey, Kabuto-kun!" Anko yells out as she enters the training field number 14. The training field was a standard one that had training logs set up nearby, and a small lake nearby the edge of the clearing._

"_Ah, hey there Anko-chan." Kabuto responds. On the outside, it looked like the two were boyfriend and girlfriend, but in truth they were just friends... with benefits._

"_Are you still reading that book?" Anko asked._

"_Yeah. I want to see if I can become an advanced medic." He said. "That would land me in the hospital, and I could even go for head of the hospital taking it away from Maikou-sama." He somewhat hated the man. The man had always thwarted his plans at getting better in the medical field._

"_Good luck with that, Kabuto-kun." She smiled, and dashed off to go another lap._

_Kabuto went back to concentrating. After about a few minutes, Kabuto sighed. He could understand it all, but for some dammed reason, he felt that it could be better._

_A puff of smoke appeared in the center of the field, and two people showed up in the center of it. One was a young boy, of maybe 7 or 9. He was the third teammate in their team 5. Itachi Uchiha. The kid was a friggin' prodigy on steroids. Hell, the kid was already a jounin, AND was going to be put in the ANBU program soon._

_Kabuto was a jounin as well, and Anko was the only one who hasn't taken the Jounin test yet. She was a true prodigy in the fields of snake summoning, genjutsu, and weapons training. The rest of the team, even Orochimaru, was expecting her to pass the jounin exam with relative ease. The girl was only 13. Though she had a LOT of chakra, so some of that could explain it. She was also from a family that was a branch off from the Higurashi clan, so that explained her weaponry decent._

_Kabuto himself was going to be an ANBU as well, but he was the oldest of the three at the ripe old age of 17. He had been studying in the medical field, as he had somehow gotten near perfect memory. He even had Tsunade teaching him something!_

_And now to the man. Sununushi Orochimaru. Their sensei. The man was respected among the village, and was even being considered for the position of Hokage. Today though, the man had an unusual face. He was scowling, and at no one in particular._

"_Hello, Orochimaru-sensei, Itachi-san." Kabuto said._

_Itachi smiled. "Hello, Kabuto-san. How's training?"_

"_Frustrating..." he sighed, and then looked up, "Orochimaru-sensei... is something wrong?"_

"_Yes. I want you three to meet me at the bridge at midnight." He said darkly. He turned and shunshin'd away._

_The two boys shrugged, and Itachi turned back to Kabuto. "What do you think that was all about?"_

"_Not sure. Could you tell Anko-chan? She ran off onto another lap, and you know the route better then I. Better find her fast, too. The sun's going to set soon."_

_Itachi shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I have a mission tonight. I'll find her and tell her, but tell our sensei that I'm sorry for not showing up."_

"_Alright, I'll pass along the word." Kabuto said. He looked back down to the book, and sighed. He resealed it into a nearby scroll, and packed up his books and gear. Maybe today was the day? He hoped so... he loathed this village._

–

_Hours later._

_Orochimaru was standing on the bridge. He looked out over the river that passed through the village. His hands were behind his back. He was going to do it tonight. He just couldn't stand the fact that the blond haired brat had been elected to the position of hokage instead of him... HIM! The prodigy of prodigies. He had slain more men in the second great shinobi war then that BRAT in the third war. His face was in a scowl._

_Two puffs of smoke appeared behind him._

"_Sorry we're late, Orochimaru-sensei."_

"_Where's Itachi?" Orochimaru didn't even bother to turn around._

"_He said he was on a mission." replied Kabuto._

_Orochimaru chuckled. It wasn't like he would be able to take the boy anyways. "Fine. It would be about you two anyways."_

_Anko looked confused. "What are you talking about, Orochimaru-sensei?"_

_Orochimaru took his hands from behind his back, and lifted them to be over the water. The water lifted, and started curl around him like a snake. "I've grown tired of this village. It's no longer of any use to me." He said slowly. "Tonight... I'm going to defect from the village, and I want you two to come with me." He remembered how he was hated, and treated poorly by the villagers. Hell, he never had a normal childhood. Except for his teammates, he couldn't think of one tiny friend. His students, however, thought highly of him, and so he would give them a chance to join him._

"_B-but, Orochimaru-senei! They would hunt us down, and either kill us, or take us to a torture department!" Anko replied._

"_You wont have to worry about that at all. You could become more powerful then you ever would if you stayed in this village." Orochimaru said. "I'll teach you things that these puny villagers are two afraid of to even realize their potential." He said, he turned around, still hugging his water snake. "I could make you the most feared kunoichi in all of the lands. All you have to do, is pledge your loyalty to me."_

_Before anyone else could do something, Kabuto got down on one knee. "I pledge my loyalty to you, Orochimaru-sama. I shall follow you, as you have shown me more then anyone else, and I hate this village's rules of conduct." He truly did. The field of medical science could be taken so much farther then where it was now._

_Anko stared wide eyed at her teammate. She looked back to Orochimaru, and saw the seriousness in his eyes. She looked down. "I... I'm sorry." She said. She had many friends that she looked up to. She was happy in this village, and wasn't it an oath you swore to NEVER go against your village as part of the entry exam to the academy? "I... I want to stay here." She said, making up her mind._

_Orochimaru frowned. "Fine. Kabuto, if you would."  
_

"_Hai, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto said. He took out a kunai, and pushed it straight into Anko's chest. "Too bad. You were always great in bed..."_

_Anko was staring in disbelief. She couldn't feel anything, and she lost consciousness. Orochimaru approached her, and did some hand signs. He waved a hand over her head. He bit her neck, and then stood up."Throw her in the river. That curse seal will make sure she'll never remember."_

"_Why not kill her?" Kabuto asked._

"_Hmm, A good point, but I think we should leave her alive. She might come to me later." He said._

"_As you wish, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto said. He picked up her body, and threw it into the river. She would live... barely._

_End flashback_

In the morning, an ANBU found her in the river, and scooped her out. They took her to the hokage.

The man looked her over, and healed her in no time with Tsunade's help. When the girl awakened, the hokage's exact words were "I've never seen eyes so lifeless." The girl had amnesia due to something Orochimaru did with her head, and her soul, as a seal was now evident on her neck.

It took years, but she eventually found out who she was, due to the seal leaking. She was so happy to find out, she glomped the Hokage right out, as he was the one to weaken it... even if it was just a little. As time passed, the girl grew more sadistic, and eventually, the villagers found out who she was in the process. They started to call her 'snake whore' and other such names by the populace. She was avoided, and sometimes drunks would try to rape her at night. The ANBU were the only thing to stop them.

_'Apparently, the seal's broken now.'_ Kabuto thought. _'But that would only happen if...'_ Kabuto's eyes widened in realization.

Anko was still glaring at him in ways only a woman betrayed could. "Oh? It seems you realize just how deep in shit you really are." She said calmly, though her face said otherwise. "You know, it's funny. You broke my heart in two ways at that moment. I trusted you, and you stabbed me in the chest with a kunai." She said still glaring. "Yes, I have my memories back. All of them. And many, many, MANY things have also returned with them." Two snakes started to slither out of her coat. "That includes my jutsu... and my deep hate for both of the men I looked up to in life. Orochimaru, because he put that goddamned seal on me... and you, for not even bashing an eyelid when you stabbed me." She was now breaking down in tears. "I loved you, baka. I would have forgiven you if you had just left with him. I know you were treated differently by the kids because of your silver hair. That's why I didn't care about them. Now..." She looked back up hate filled her eyes. "I seem to have been given all of the hatred the villagers had for you two. I'm a nobody to these people. A whore at most. No one respected me. No one loved me. No one held me close. I never felt the warmth of any friend. Kurenai tries to help me, god bless her, but she doesn't get all that close to me. And you know why? All because you and 'sensei' had to go, and involve me in that stupid tirade, and that GORDFORSAKEN SEAL! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LIVE WITHOUT KNOWING WHO YOU ARE!? HOW YOU HOPE THAT THOSE PEOPLE WHISPERING THINGS BEHIND YOU ISN'T TRUE!? HOW YOU SOMETIMES WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!? HOW SCARY IT IS TO NOT KNOW IF YOU ARE ALONE IN THIS WORLD!? HOW YOU GO TO SLEEP EVERY NIGHT CRYING AND HOPING YOU WONT BE RAPED!? YOU AND THAT 'THING' RUINED MY LIFE JUST BECAUSE YOU TWO COULDN'T STAND THIS VILLAGE!" She stopped. Tears were flowing down her face. She had specifically requested to be the one to 'interrogate' the man. She took a deep breath, and looked back up, her evil smile now present once more. "Seeing as how that 'thing' is dead now, and that seal gone forever, I'll be repaying everything you and that 'thing' did to me back to you." As she talked her voice got deeper "I'm going to make **you wish you were **_**never born...**" _(1)

–

Konoha stadium.

Sakura and Ino were currently holding each other and crying. Why?

Several reasons actually. One is that 'their sasuke-kun' had been beaten down like he was nothing by the dobe! The second reason... well. Hinata's chest was bigger then both of the girls combined.

It just wasn't fair. Why couldn't they have a chest like that Hyuuga? And what's worse is that said Hyuuga wasn't even loyal to the Uchiha! Why does a non-believer girl get such a big chest?

The two fangirls continued to cry.

The kage box.

The hokage and the fire Daimyo were sitting side by side in the kage box. The Daimyo was now sitting where the 'kazekage' sat. The guards from both factions standing off to the side, catching up on how things were going. Even though all of the guards wore masks, they all knew each other from the time that they spent time together as ANBU. They laughed, and cried at each other's antics. They also made sure to get in a good spot to see the rest of the chuunin exams. The candidates this year looked promising, and even looking like future comrades in masks.

They looked over to two new ANBU though. One standing to the right of the Hokage, the other standing to the left of the fire Daimyo. Normally, no one could tell if some ANBU were male and female. There was one exception though. On male ANBU there is a leaf tattoo on the left shoulder, and on females the tattoo is on the right to help distinguish genders. Both female ANBU were wearing Kitsune masks. Rumors were flying all over the board about the two grey haired ANBU girls. One of which was the fact that said girls passed the ANBU hiding test on the first try! No one had ever done that before. Well, maybe Hawk did on the first try, but no one else had. The girls were also a complete mystery. They never talked to anyone, and just hand signed each other. It was as if these two were mutes! "Whenever they would take off their masks to shower," one of the females ANBU explained, "their eyes were a strange red and green with slits."

One of the Male ANBU, an dog mask, spoke up at that moment. "Like Christmas?"

"Yeah. Red around the slits, and then fades to green on the outer edges. Those two would keep their eyes closed though. Especially in the shower." The female raccoon ANBU said. "I wonder why that is?" She didn't add in the fact that they only closed their eyes when 'the games' were happening. Hey being an ANBU was tough, and they needed a release somehow. She shrugged and just pegged it up to being shy.

The girls looked so small... almost like children. Many people wondered who they were, but sometimes shinobi and kunoichi change how they look once they put their mask on, or even when entering the building. That's why no one even had one clue about Hawk's true identity. No one wanted to find out either, for they would die the moment they knew. They chalked up the girls as another enigma.

Down in the arena.

The concrete slab was now pulled away from a perfectly repaired field, and the proctor standing in the middle of the field. "I thank you all for waiting, and I hope you all enjoyed the special show this year." He bowed. "Now, on to the second round of the third exam!" The crowd cheered. "The first match is Hirguashi Tenten v. Hyuuga Hinata. Could those two contestants please come down?"

Hinata looked over to see Naruto smiling back at her.

Everyone of the contestants saw what happened earlier to Orochimaru. To say that it was a special treat was an understatement. They got to see the one man that had destroyed people's lives turn to dust.

Naruto pecked her on the cheek. "You can take the luck, Hinata-chan, but I want it back for my match!" He said.

Hinata blushed, but smiled back. "I'll be sure to do that!" and she hoped down to the field, and Tenten followed shortly after getting some 'advice' from Lee. The boy didn't know the first thing about kenjutsu, but boy was the boy pure at heart.

The proctor looked to both girls.

Tenten spoke up. "I hope you're more of a match then that Ame nin. He was such a disappointment." She smiled.

Hinata returned a smile. "I think you'll find me much more then that." She said, as she thought back to one of her days of training.

"_Hinata-chan." Raku had said. "Do you know what water is?"_

"Are both contestants ready?" The proctor asked.

"_Water is a contradiction." Hinata responded._

Both nod, a smirk on each face.

"_Yes. Exactly. Now, why IS it a contradiction?" Raku asked._

"HAJIME!" He said, and then jumped back. He did NOT want to get between these two.

"_I don't know." Hinata responded._

Hinata dashed forward, as did Tenten who had pulled out her swords, and in a reverse grip. Tenten was the first to make an offensive move as they got closer to each other, as she brought her arm in front of her to make the sword strike Hinata in the head. Tenten was not disappointed at what she saw.

Hinata had stopped the sword with her hand. Well, it really wasn't her hand, instead of the fact that chakra flowing between the sword and her hand had stopped it. Tenten smiled. This was definitely going to be a good fight.

Hinata smiled as well, and then activated her Byakugan. If anything about the last match, it was that Tenten was dangerous in close combat.

"_Water can flow smoothly. Calm as a sunny day..."_

Hinata then flowed around Tenten's next vertical strike from below. She dodged another ten strikes from Tenten altogether, like she was dancing. Tenten decided to dance with her blades as well.

The audience looked on in awe. Tenten trying with all her will to hit Hinata, and the Hyuuga flowing around all of the attacks in return. It looked more like a dance then a fight.

"_Water can flow like a mighty storm. Destructive as lava from a volcano..."_

Hinata then changed pace suddenly, and caught Tenten off balance. Hinata started to flow faster, and started to hit the blades away with chakra flashing from her hands. She got in close, and kicked Tenten in the stomach. Tenten flew back a little, and rolled as she hit the ground. She bounced back up, and looked to see Hinata standing completely still. Hinata's hands were raised from her sides, and her palms faced the walls. Her head bowed to the ground.

"_Water can stand as still and as quiet as a predator. It looks inviting and refreshing..."_

Tenten smiled, and raced straight towards Hinata. She raised her sword to attack her from the side in an angled strike. The sword went straight through Hinata. This threw Tenten off balance, as it looked like it was an illusion, and not the real Hinata, but the girl suddenly reached forward, and made a hit with her palm straight at Tenten's face. The palm was solid, and hit Tenten back a few feet.

Tenten breathed heavily. She spit some blood to the side, and smiled. Yes. It looked like it was time to use it. She raised her eyes to look straight at Hinata. She whispered, "Dance of the blade." And lowered her head.

Hinata smiled. Her cat ears picked up what the girl whispered. She resumed her stand still position.

Tenten's body blurred, and didn't move in a straight line. She dashed back and forth, faster then anyone could keep up with. She went from being in front of the Hyuuga to being directly behind her in a blink of an eye. Tenten spun on one heel, and held her swords out.

"_Water is a source of life..."_

The blades fazed through Hinata, as Tenten did her spin attack. Tenten brought both blades down, and cut straight through Hinata from head to toe. Hinata was unfazed. The swords simply couldn't touch her.

"_Water is a source of death..."_

Hinata spun on one heel as soon as Tenten's swords hit the ground from the attack. Hinata put her right hand into a half ram sign, and aimed straight at Tenten.

"_Water cannot be both at the same time... Water cannot be more then one thing at a time..."_

Hinata's two fingers were heading straight for Tenten's heart.

"_Water is a calm flow. Water is a violent storm. Water is a silent predator. Why is water a contradiction?" Raku finished, and looked to Hinata to see if she could answer._

Tenten automatically reacted, and brought her hands up to stop the attack. Hinata's attack is stopped by Tenten's blades, but the blades are still pushed back by the sheer force from the attack, and Tenten's footing is lost. She jumps back a few feet from Hinata, who's hand didn't move all that much after Tenten started to go backward.

Tenten looked up, and smiled. It was her turn to counter attack. She jumped forward, and then whispered so quietly, the words were carried by the wind. "Kenjutsu: Shintai no kai."_(Sword technique: Release of Ultimate Truth)_ Her arms came up, and she looked Hinata directly in the eye. Tenten jumped up so she was only a foot above the ground, and her her hands put her blades in a normal grip, instead of reversed. Her arms seemed to blurr as dozens of blade point came straight at Hinata. Hinata quickly started to block all of the strikes aimed at her.

Tenten's eyes widened as the attack ended. Her sword's tip was stopped from reaching Hinata's heart by a palm. Scratches appeared all over Hinata's arms and legs, but never on her torso. Hinata couldn't block them all, so she focused on blocking the ones aiming for vital points.

Shintai no kai was an ability to unlock a swordsman's... or swordswoman's in this case... true potential of their muscles for a short period of time, and give them unheard of control over them. The unlock only lasts 2 seconds at most. Any longer, and there would be permanent damage.

A three inch long tip of Tenten's now broken blade lands behind Hinata. Tenten looked at her broken blade in her right hand. She looks sad at it for a moment. She pulls out one of her scrolls, and seals the blade into it. She disappears and reappears next to the tip. She pulls it out of the ground, and seals it into the seal as well. She turns back around. She puts her remaining blade into a two handed normal hold. A normal kenjutsu stance.

Both girl's faces harden. Blood dripped down from Tenten's mouth and nose. Hinata focused not to think about the cuts on her arms and legs. Instead she focused on Tenten in front of her.

Of all the things about Higurashi there was one thing that was feared above all about them. Their single sword two handed style. Stories were passed around kunoichi and shinobi of all ages about their skills. Hinata knew of this as well, and shifted her stance into a tougher position. Instead of even LOOKING like a jyuuken stance, Hinata is holding one of her palms to look straight at Tenten, and her other hand is in front of her diaphragm, palm facing down. She is standing up straight, her chest pointed to the side, and her legs were shoulder width apart.

Tenten's face hardened because one of her babies had been hurt. Now the Hyuuga girl was going to pay.

Both stare at each other, and dead silence enters the air. A single leaf floats down between the two.

_Hinata sat quiet for a moment. She looked up, because she was honestly stumped. Hiraku chuckled. "Because, my dear, water can change..."_

As soon as the leaf blocks the sight of the other's eyes, the leaf was cut in half by Tenten's sword. The sword was blocked by one of Hinata's hands. Hinata wasn't given a chance to retaliate. Tenten swung around on one foot so fast, that Hinata's reflexes could barely keep up. Tenten kept up an attack that was more of a blur, and Hinata had to concentrate more on defending then attacking. She had two hands, yet had to use both as Tenten kept up an assault most would die against.

Hinata smiled. She changed body motion, and she was dodging them all now. She danced around all of her attackers strikes.

A sword strike going straight for Hinata's side, and it was coming in fast. Hinata couldn't dance her way out of this one, so she simply did a side flip over the blade. The blade flipped in Tenten's hand, and started to go where Hinata was going to fall.

Many of the audience knew there was no way Hinata could dodge it now, and the fight would be over.

Hinata was still smiling.

"_...Water can change... in the blink of an eye."_

The moment Hinata landed on the ground, she stood stock still in her landing position. The blade passed right through her. Tenten's eyes widened. She had put all of her strength into that, and now she was over extended.

Hinata of course started moving again, and two of her fingers on her right hand went straight for Tenten's heart. The fingers didn't touch her chest. Instead they stayed exactly 3 inches from Tenten's chest. "Forfeit." Was all Hinata said.

Tenten sighed. She knew she was beaten. "Proctor, I forfeit."

The proctor smiled, and walked up to the middle. "Winner by forfeit Hyuuga Hinata!"

The crowd cheered her name on, and many people stood up to clap and cheer for the girl.

Tenten walked away, and Hinata took a bow to the audience. She was smiling, and looked up to watch Naruto cheering her on for the great fight. She ran up the wall, and landed right next to him. "Did you like the show?"

Naruto smiled. "Are you kidding!? You did great, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata blushed, but she kept looking him in the eye. Oh those beautiful blue eyes. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

Up in the kage box.

"So, what do you think, Daimyo-dono?" Saurtobi turned his head to his left to look at the young man.

The Daimyo was quiet for a second. "I think I'll put my recommendation up for both girls." He said.

"Oh, why is that?" Sarutobi asked.

"Well, to say the fight was a fascinating dance is an understatement. Both girls flowed and danced in their own styles, and made it look like a beautiful emotional dance. If you had put violin music to it, it could have been called a play." He said smiling. "And I, oh so very much, love beautiful plays."

Sarutobi chuckled. The young man did have chakra training, but not to the point of a true chuunin. It was just so he could signal his guards when he needed them. So he couldn't see the finer points of the fight. "Shall I tell you what I saw?"

"Hm?"

"I saw two girls who were trying their best to show off their own styles. The Hyuuga clan has relied on the Jyuuken for too long, and if I'm not mistaken, that two katana style is not in the norm for Higurashi. They were trying to add something new to the field of the kunoichi." Sarutobi said. "I'll put forth my own recommendation as well." he said smiling.

The Daimyo smiled as well. To become a chuunin by these exams, one must have a recommendation from 4 individuals who had voting power. People who had voting power were national traders, Kages, Daimyos, Big business dealers, and ANBU captains.

"What do you think, Hawk?" Sarutobi turned his head to his right. Hawk was standing in a thinking position. He had seen all three fights both of these girls had gone through. Whenever he voted for someone, it was usually because they could become great ANBU members.

"I think I'll withhold my vote for now, Hokage-sama. While both seem advanced in their fields, they are not exactly stealthy. The moves they showed off seemed a little too flashy for my taste." He said.

Saurtobi nodded. Don't get Hawk wrong. He's not a bad man. He just doesn't want to put anyone who can't become stealthy on A-ranked missions where stealth was usually something of utmost importance.

Back down in the arena.

The proctor nodded as an ANBU disappeared. He looked back up to the audience. "The next match shall be Sabaku no Temari v. Rock Lee. Would both contestants please come down?" He asked out.

Lee smiled. "Good luck Lee-san." Tenten said as she passed by.

"Thanks, Tenten-chan. It was a good fight!" He said.

Tenten smiled. "Thanks, even though I lost." She looked back up. "You're the only member left on our team still in. You better not lose!"

"I wont!" Lee said, and jumped down into the arena.

Temari, still looking kind of sad, hopped down as well.

"Are both contestants ready?" The proctor asked as both of them walked up.

"YES!" Lee said.

A meek "No..." came from Temari's mouth.

"Are you going to forfeit then?"

"No.. I... but... AGH! I don't know anymore!" She shouted.

Shikamaru and Asuma were sitting side by side in the stands. Asume looked over to Shikamaru. "You really broke her, you know that?"

Shika opened his eyes slightly. "All I did was give up."

Asuma frowned. "Yes, AFTER you caught the poor girl in a trap, destroyed her confidence in herself, AND made her look like a fool." He said.

Shika just closed his eyes again, and muttered. "Mendoukusai." He said as he leaned forward. He knew just what to say to get the girl's confidence back, but the girl was a troublesome blonde... He knew exactly what his teacher was setting him up to do. "I know what you're up to... and I wont fall for it."

"Then just tell me about your battle then... why did you quit?" Asuma said smiling.

"Jeez. I said it before. I was going to get beaten no matter what I would do. She was superior to me in every way... she would've wiped the floor with me if I hadn't quite." Shikamaru said.

Asuma just smiled. "She was superior to you in tactics?"

"Nah, but every other field and she would win. Maybe if I had time to plan more strategies, I would've won... but I don't think so... I'm just not cut out to being extraordinary. All I want to do is live an average life, do average things, have an average family, and probably die in a mundane way. If she's down because she lost in strategy to me, then there is no way she should be a chuunin." Shikamaru then looked to his teacher who was still smiling. He looked to his teachers hands who were holding a bird sign. "Mendouksu..." He said, and then looked back up to his teacher. "How much did she hear?"

"Plenty." Asuma said smiling.

Back down in the arena.

Temari's eyes widened as she heard the boy's voice being projected all across the field, much to the boy's aggravation. She looked up to the boy, and she had some serious questions for him later. She was going to pound some sense into him. For a guy who wanted to be "average" he sure did seem stupid to waste all of his talent, and then piss her off by saying SHE wasn't cut out to be a chuunin. She looked back to her opponent. She would show him wrong, and then beat some sense into him.

Lee's eyebrows raised up a little. The fire's of her spiritual youth seemed to come back as the lazy boy's voice was thrown across the field. Lee smiled. At least this would be a good match for him.

Her eyes hardened, and said, "I'm ready."

"Then..." The proctor started. "HAJIME!"

Lee dashed forward as Temari sent a wave of chakra filled wind at him with her fan. Lee's forward momentum was stopped, but he didn't get blown backwards.

Temari cursed a little, and then started to send wave after bloody wave of wind to both blow the boy back, and to cut him up.

Lee kept his arms up to stop the blasts of wind from cutting up his face. He was in a predicament. If he didn't get out of this wind fast, he would be cut up. If he dodged to the side, the wind would just blow him away, as he just wasn't fast enough. If he tossed his arm weights, then he would lose the weight that is keeping him in one spot in the first place.

Lee didn't have much choice, and he took off his arm weights. He had to time this right.

Temari waved her hand one more time, and the boy tossed the weights, and jumped backwards. He rode the wave of wind to the arena wall, and landed on it with his feet. He looked up to see Temari gone. His eyes widened, and he looked around to see if he could find her. She wasn't there anymore.

He carefully searched the arena with his eyes.

Temari was sitting in the trees carefully planning what she needed to do. She knew that if this battle was drawn out, he would win, as she had less endurance then that of a taijutsu user. Speaking of taijutsu, this boy was fast. So fast, that she only knew of one technique that could hit him, but she didn't want to use it yet. She quickly put it in the back of her head as a 'last resort' thing.

She picked up her fan, and poured chakra into it. She put it behind her, and changed the chakra into wind instantly. She swung it, and with a loud yell. "Daikamataichi no jutsu!"_(Great sickle weasel jutsu)_

A gush of wind entered the arena from the forested area. The trees were broken up, and destroyed as Lee gained cuts all over his body.

Up in the kage box.

The Hokage puffed his pipe. _'Area of effect ninjutsu wind user versus a head on single attack type taijutsu user. Neither are strong against each other. This match could either go for a little bit longer, or end right away depending on how it turns.'_ He thought. _'Hm, though the long range one seems to be a tactician if I remember correctly, and Lee seems to have major endurance, even for a taijutsu user.'_

Another puff of smoke escaped his lips as the daimyo watched with fascination. He didn't even KNOW wind could be such a deadly force. The taijutsu user was getting cuts all over his body just from the excess gusts of wind. He then noticed something. _'She's trying to keep him at a distance. Ah, I see. If he get's in close, he wins. If she keeps him at a distance, she wins.'_ He smiled. _'I wonder how this one will turn out.'_

Down in the arena floor.

Lee was getting tired of just taking hits. He was pure speed, and he was going to show her what that means. He'll get in close, and finish this girl off quickly. Lee winced at that. He was told to treat woman like a delicacy, and now he would have to disobey that rule.

He got down on his right knee, and lifted the leg warmer in his left leg. He pushed a small button on the device that held the black rods to his legs. They didn't fall though, and he switched to his other leg. He hit the button on that one as well. As soon as he was standing up straight, he touched a hidden button by his waist, and the 8 rods fell to the ground. A large THUD echoed throughout the arena.

Temari's eyes widened. _'Shit. He just took off the last of his weights. I guess I'll have to use 'that' anyways.'_

Lee stood up straight, and looked around once more. He bent over again into a running position, and then disappeared due to pure speed.

Temari only had delicate little time. She bit her thumb, and then swiped some blood onto her fan. She picked it up, and put it into a wave ready position. She pushed some chakra into it, and yelled out, "Kuchiyose: Kirikiri mai!"_(Summoning: Swirling wind)_ As she was her fan, a giant weasel appeared out of nowhere.

"Hmph." it went, and then disappeared. The moment it did, a silver light danced across the battlefield. As it danced a great storm of wind was unleashed, and Temari kept adding chakra to it to make the wind even stronger.

Lee appeared in a kick ready position above her head, but was blown away by the severe wind. No matter how much Lee tried, he couldn't touch any solid surface, thus he was useless. He couldn't gain any speed of any kind. The wind continued to cut him up, as a giant weasel carrying a large sickle in it's mouth sliced Lee's body up. It was through sheer reflexes that he didn't get any major wounds on his body, as he twisted and turned in the air to dodge any strike.

Suddenly, a giant fan hit Lee's head. Temari was in the same position as when the wind first started. She folded up the fan as she had continued to focus chakra into the storm of wind. The wind was moving in a circular motion around the arena. She just waited from his to come right back to her, and she whacked him hard on the head. The poor boy didn't see it coming as her weasel was keeping him busy.

Lee fell to the ground unconscious, and the wind died down immediately. The weasel reappeared near Temari, and then disappeared in a poof of smoke, signaling his leaving.

Temari smirked, and looked up to Shikamaru.

Up in the audience stands.

Shikamaru's eyes twitched. _'She's more forceful then my mom!'_ He knew he was going to be in for a looong day when she finally found him later.

Down in the arena.

The proctor walked up and checked the boy's vitals. He nodded, and signaled some medics to come in. He looked up to the audience. "Winner of the second match Sabaku no Temari." (2)

The crowd cheered. They had seen something flashy, and that always brightened their day.

Up in the kage box.

Both men in the chair's were looking down at the girl. The Hokage spoke up. "What do you think?"

"Even though she technically won that first battle, she did lose in the eyes of a shinobi, right?"

"Yes, that's right." The hokage said.

"Well, she made up for it with this battle. She showed that she could hold a cool head. That... and she had a FREAKING COOL jutsu!" He yelled out. "And, I loooove that weasel of hers." It was a widely known fact that the fire Daimyo loved the little weasels. Hell, he even had a whole house just for his 23 pet weasels. The fact he had just seen a large weasel carry a deadly weapon just made him happier. He was acting like a little kid in a candy store. "I'm definitely sending a message to Suna to make her a chuunin." Translation: VOTED!

The hokage chuckled. "Yes, despite her earlier 'loss,' she did make a great comeback."

The ANBU captain stayed in his thinking pose. "Hm, she did show great prowess in disappearing mid technique." He's talking about the moment when Temari disappeared during a wind attack early in the match. "And she could definitely learn to hide a little better with practice. She is a very balanced fighter, and in ninjutsu arts. If she worked on her genjutsu, then she could be an all around fighter. I'll see what happens in the next match before I decide though."

The hokage nodded. "I'll withhold my vote for that reason as well. She did make a great comeback, but she needs to prove herself a little bit more before she can become a chuunin."

In the audience.

Shikamaru face palmed as Asuma was continuously teasing him about a certain blonde haired girl.

In the arena.

The medics had picked Lee off the ground as he was just regaining consciousness. "Wha... what happened?" Lee asked.

"Your hard head dented my fan!" Temari yelled out. It was true. She didn't see it until she moved to put it on her back. "Kami, you're lucky that I have my other one with me!" She yelled as she sealed away her fan, and pulled another fan out as she walked up towards the competitor's box.

The medics carried lee off, and the proctor looked back to the audience. "The final match of the second round shall be Uzumaki Naruto v. Sabaku no Gaara. Would those competitors please come down?" He asked.

Naruto smiled, and moved to jump over the rail when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Naruto stopped and turned only to get his mask pulled off and get kissed on the lips from Hinata.

Naruto's eyes widened, but he gratefully excepted the kiss. It was an innocent one though. (They're too young to know about tongue)

Hinata pulled back, and smiled. "Good luck." She said.

"Thanks, Hinata-chan." He smiled. He pulled the mask up over his face, and jumped over the rails into the arena.

Gaara was already waiting as he had done a sand version of the shunshin. This was the moment. This Naruto kid would finally die, and his mother would finally get the blood she very much so wanted. A smile crossed on his lips. "I have been denied a fight, and mother has been getting restless." He said to Naruto.

"Oh, you'll get a fight." Naruto said with a foxy grin. He had tossed his trench coat to the side. His foxy ears could once again feel the breeze of the air. "I'll beat you down with a stick!" He said. He took off his trench coat, and threw it aside.

"Are both contestants ready?" The proctor asked.

Naruto nodded, but Gaara stood still.

"HAJIME!" He immediately backed off, and exited the arena in case of a certain incident.

Naruto brought his right hand up to his face in a half ram sign. "KAI!" He yelled out. A wave of chakra was released as Naruto was nearly glowing in the stuff now. The chakra was slowly flowing out of Naruto, and the amount was so massive that everyone, even civilians could see it.

Many people were gasping at the amount being released.

Back up in the competitors box, Kina smiled. _'He just released 5 of 10 of his chakra seals. When he woke up this morning, we took off his gravity seals, but left the chakra ones on. We agreed he would release the seal the moment his match against Gaara started.'_

In the kage box.

All three judge's eyes widened. The hokage was the first to speak. "I knew he always had a lot of chakra, but never this much! He's nearly releasing a sannin's worth of chakra!"

The fire daimyo spoke up. "How did he just release that much energy?"

The hokage sighed. "Long ago, I placed 10 chakra seals on him to help control his chakra level. I always knew the boy would have way too much due to certain circumstances." _'Parentage and kyuubi.'_ He said in his mind. "I gave him instructions on how to release the seals. I assumed he took them off a long time ago, but if he had kept them on until just now..." His words faded.

The fire Daimyo needed to know something. "How do chakra seals work?" He asked.

The Hokage lifted his pipe to his mouth. "Chakra seals work by limiting the amount of chakra to flowing through the tenkestu. Essentially, a chakra seal will limit the amount of chakra one can use at any one moment. The amount of chakra he has stays the same, but it makes it easier to control the chakra. The longer one keeps it on, the easier one can control the chakra, and let it flow in greater amounts once it's taken off. It's been on him for nearly 13 years now." He said.

The ANBU spoke up then. "So that's how he's been able to sneak passed all my ANBU without detection?" There are many ways a ninja can detect someone. Sight, smell, touch, and hearing are the usual ones. Once someone becomes an ANBU they are MADE to learn how to sense through another way. Chakra. Everyone gives off chakra, whether they think about it or not, and a skilled user can detect that leak. There are ways to suppress your chakra, but they are very difficult to perform. One of them is a chakra seal, which must be done by an advanced seal user or up. If it was done by an amateur, you could die or end up without the ability to use chakra whatsoever, or it wouldn't work to the ability it needed to be at. The hokage was nowhere near a seal master, but he did make it to become an advanced seal user.

"Yes. I had to put 10 on him, as I said, to limit his chakra, and give him a better chance of avoiding the provokers that would attack him sometimes." The hokage said. "He must've just released all 10 in order for it to be this much."

Hawk's eyes widened behind his mask. To put 10 on a kid meant that the kid had super amounts of chakra on him. He knew that the hokage wore 17, and Hawk himself wore 13. Hell, Kakashi wore 15 of them. To think that a kid would need 10 meant that he would be even stronger in the future.

There was a standard rule among shinobi. It was sometimes used by kunoichi, but it was rare.

Once one hits the level of jounin, a shinobi must have a chakra seal applied to them until they leak almost no chakra. It did not hinder the performance of many users except chakra heavy jutsu users. Those ones would just release the seals in mid battle, and use their abilities. Otherwise, they would all be harder to detect.

One of the few rare exceptions to this rule was a girl named Anko. The girl had an unusual amount of chakra for a girl, and when she reached chuunin a second time, they had to give her 5 chakra seals, or she would be like a bright light bulb in the middle of a dark room.

A second exception was a girl named Uzumaki Kushina that had joined leaf with 6 chakra seals already applied, and she was a chuunin at the time.

Another rare exception was the fourth hokage. The man had to be given 3 chakra seals as a gennin. He was one of the few rare gennin ever in existence to have to get one that early.

Hawk looked back down to Naruto. The kid was certainly looking up to his parent's heritage.

Down on the floor.

Gaara's eyes widened. He's never felt this much chakra at once before. He's felt his 'father's' but even then it was being suppressed by seals.

Naruto looked Gaara in the eye. "Well, come on. I'm waiting." Naruto said smiling.

Gaara's face hardened. The sand flew up around him, and went straight for Naruto's body. The sand tried to get close, but the chakra field around Naruto was stopping any such thing. Gaara smiled brightly. "I knew it. IF I KILL YOU MY EXISTENCE WILL BE PROVEN FOR ALL ETERNITY!" Gaara yelled out. He pushed both of his hands out, and a wave of sand came from the ground in front of Gaara.

Naruto's ears went flat against his head as he looked up. The wall of sand had to be easily 40 feet high! Naruto put his hands in front of him. His palms flat and his hands wide open. He slowly thought back to one of his training days.

"_Why do I have to release the seals?" He asked._

_Nelrim looked him point blank in the eye. "Because the technique were about to teach you is one of the most energy exhaustive ones for this style."  
_

_Naruto looked at Nelrim like he was crazy. "What's it called, and why should I use such a huge amount for it?"_

_Nelrim slowly smiled. "The reason why, you'll soon learn. As for it's name, it's called..."_

"Konki Kouseki."_(Energy Crystal)_ Naruto said slowly.

The wall of sand crashed down on Naruto, and the audience waited to see what would happen.

A big bright light shined in the sand, but the sand poured over the source of light until no light could be seen whatsoever.

Gaara smiled in a creepy sort of fashion. He put his hands down on the edge of the sand field, and said, "Sabaku Taiso!"_(Sand waterfall imperial funeral)_ Pulses of chakra could be seen in the sand, as the sand compacted down hard on the field.

Gaara's smile was still evident. There was no way anyone could survive that. He started to pull the sand back into the ground. He had to make sure.

The sand cleared the area slowly, and several people gasped. Surrounding Naruto was a crystal like structure made of pure concentrated chakra. Naruto's hands were against the edge of said barrier.

Naruto breathed out slowly. He then took in another deep breath. He brought his hands back, and crossed them against his chest, and he bent over. He built chakra up into his body, and prepared it for the final part of this technique. Naruto stood up straight, and his hands flew out from his body. He yelled out, and the chakra was released. "Konki Bakuha!"_(Energy Explosion)_

The crystal structure around Naruto exploded, and shards of the crystal flew everywhere.

Sand immediately engulfed Gaara as a few of the foot long shards hit the sand.

Some of the shards looked like it was going to hit the audience, and the people immediately flinched. They all relaxed when they saw the a barrier made from seals to protect the audience stopped the shards and bounced them back into the field.

As soon as a shard touched the ground, a small wave of chakra would leak from it, and a small amount of wind swirled around the shard. Other shard's landed near it, and they too got a small wind turbulence around them. Electricity sparked off between them, and a dense fog flowed along the ground at about 5 inches high.

When Gaara's sand let him finally see, he was shocked. There was a see of crystal blue shards all along the ground, and some pieces were still falling. The walls had scattered blue shards all over them, and lightning and a small fog seemed to come from them as well. The only area not covered was the slightly scarred ground surrounding Naruto.

Naruto held his hand up in front of him. "Konki Hahen."_(Energy shard)_ he said, and a blue light started up above Naruto's hand. The light grew until it became a full foot long crystal chard just like all the others. It fell into his hand, and immediately lightning started to flow between his shard and all of the ones along the ground and the walls. The shards started to shrink and disappear. Soon after a few seconds of this, the only shard left was in Naruto's hand. It was slightly longer now. 5 feet at the most, and took the shape of a throwing spear. Lightning arced off of it and into the ground below a few times. It wasn't a constant, as it seemed to happen randomly. Wind seemed to circle around the lance in unsteady circles, and a fog seemed to fly out from the wind.

"Say hello to my shiny stick!" Naruto raised the chakra shard up, and took a stance similar to that of throwing a spear. Naruto took a few steps forward, and then threw it as hard as he could, with a little help from a chakra push. It screamed all the way to Gaara's body. The wind seemed to push the spear to go faster, and lightning was constantly coming off the projectile and into the nearby ground.

Gaara's sand immediately reacted and put itself in the way of the projectile, and the sand hardened as much as it could. The projectile hit the sand. It looked like the sand would hold for a second, but then cracks appeared on the sand as it was somehow weakened.

Gaara's eyes widened as he saw the cracks. The spear broke through.

The projectile hit the arena wall covered in blood. After a few seconds, the shard seemed to of had lost it's ability to hold itself together, and simply fell apart. Chakra leaked into the air as the shards began to shrink on the ground.

Gaara was holding his left shoulder. Where the ball and socket joint should have been was a big hole. Gaara pulled his hand away, and looked at it. His eyes widened. "My blood... IT'S MY BLOOD!" He yelled out. "THIS PAIN!" He yelled, and put his hand against his shoulder again. He could feel a nagging sensation against his mind. "Mother?! Stay back! No... I will not let you erase my existence!" He yelled to Naruto. He put his good hand to his head as the headache now exceeded that of his shoulder. "GAAAH!" He screamed out. He closed his mouth, and gritted his teeth. He tried to hold her in, but that thing in his head wouldn't let him. A dome of sand erected around his body.

Naruto could feel the energy inside of the doom. He didn't know how to describe it really. It felt mostly like Kina's yokou... but something like Nelrim's energy shifted inside of it as well.

This was bad. A lot of will power went into making that earlier crystal dome, and Naruto was now mentally tired. Physically, he had almost infinite chakra, but his mentality could only take so much of the chakra compression levels required to make such a shard, much less a crystal structure.

Normally, when you compress chakra, all the chakra usually does is want to spread out. However, part of step three was to learn how to compress chakra so much so that the chakra turns into a tangible substance, usually a crystal shard for Naruto. That was the whole part about what Nelrim's little rock diverging water was all about. A hard surface could change the direction of flowing substance. Thus, whenever he used Shissou_(Dash)_ he wouldn't create an explosion of wasted chakra. Instead a little piece of extremely concentrated chakra that had almost turned tangible was around each of his tenketsu. Each chakra 're-director' would make sure that all of the chakra was sent backwards in order to launch him forwards with the least amount of chakra used. It was also more silent, and left less scarring to whatever was nearby. He had to learn how to dash while simultaneously making sure all 371 tenketsu would send the chakra in the right direction. This SOUNDS hard, but is surprisingly easy when you're forced to learn how to use them, AND dodge Anko's, Nelrim's, and Tenten's attacks at the same time. Thanks to clones, he's gotten it down to the point that he can do it subconsciously.

The chakra shards do have other downsides though. After they leave his hand, they start to dissolve right away. The shards themselves could not be used for defense, as the shards can shatter easily, unless in the form of his defensive dome like structure; then it can take a lot of hits. If one wasn't careful when forming the shards, very painful little spikes can grow inside of your tenketsu, and permanently destroy the tenketsu. Naruto had a few close calls, and Nelrim had to hit him to not let them form in the wrong way.

Naruto looked back up. The energy around the sand dome pulsed, and it felt like whatever was happening, it would happen sooner then Naruto could get his head together. The little dome exploded in a furry of sand.

Naruto quickly closed his eyes, and put his arms up to block it from hitting his face.

Once the sand settled down, Naruto looked back to see Gaara. Only he didn't see Gaara. Naruto's eyes slowly wandered up as he saw a giant raccoon dog made of sand. A tail waved around wildly behind him. On the tanuki_(Raccoon dog)_'s head was Gaara coming out of the top, and looking down at Naruto.

The arena could barely fit the size of the giant sand creature.

Naruto slowly spoke, "I'm going to need a bigger stick." Kina hopped down into the arena next to him.

Up in the kage box.

As soon as the tanuki appeared, the hokage immediately yelled out, "CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK!"

Several ANBU appeared out of nowhere, and stood on the walls of the arena. They went through several hand signs, and then slammed their hands down on the wall's edge.

The hokage himself came down, and put some hand signs in as well, as even Jiraiya came in to perform the same hand signs.

A wall of pure chakra energy flared up and covered the arena up. The highest point of the dome went about 10 feet above the tanuki's head.

Down in the arena. Gaara was smiling creepily, as he held up a ram sign. "I'll show you." His shoulder started to heal like it was nothing. Soon the shoulder healed completely, and all that was left was bloody tattered clothes around the shoulder. "I'll show you the true meaning of power!" He pushed chakra into the seal. "Tanuki neiri no jutsu!"_(Feigning sleep jutsu)_ His body slumped over.

Life entered the golden eyes of the Tanuki. **"Huh?"** It said, and looked around. **"I'm free. I'm freeee! AHAHAHAHAH!"** It laughed. Suddenly, it stopped laughing. It quickly looked down into the audience. The hokage and Jiraiya were currently holding ram signs as they focused chakra into the barrier. On the hokage's shoulders was a little siamese cat. **"Yo.. you! Wha... what are you doing here?! I thought your kind was banned!"**

Nelrim's voice echoed across the arena. _"Yes... and your point being?"_ It was more of a soft whisper in the wind.

**"Kami and Yami specifically banned you, so how are you here!?"** He asked again, fear evident in his voice.

"_Simple. Yami made me come here on a favor. Actually two favors now that I think of it. One was to __look over a brat. The other... Well."_ An evil laugh whispered in the wind. _"Don't worry, I wont harm you for now, stupid one. The next time we meet though, I will be taking you out of Herald, Ichibi no Shukaku."_

Ichibi no Shukaku. That was the name of the one tailed demon. Naruto's eyes widened. _"Well this is certainly an interesting match, eh, Kina-chan?"_ He thinks to her.

"_Interesting indeed. Do I have permission to access my tails?"_ She asked back.

"_Permission granted for up to 5 tails."_ Naruto thinks back.

Kina started to laugh. Many people looked like they were going crazy. It's not everyday you here a fox laugh. Her tail split in half. Those two tails split in half. One of the four tails split once more to make 5 tails. She grew in size as the tails increased in numbers. Soon she was the size of a large horse.

"_I'll take on the big guy. You can relax for now."_ Kina said. _"Watch and learn how a true master of the Mizu Kanryuu fights."_ A soft glow enveloped her body. A red aura surrounded her, and Kina bent back. She looked almost like she was laying down. Her tails all lit up with fire and lightning. When the intensity of the rife and lightning reached a peek, she waved them all backwards. A blur of red light was seen all over the stadium. It was a single red beam traveling all over the place. The beams were constantly moving at high speeds.

The poor tanuki couldn't keep up as his body was slowly being destroyed whenever the light would pass over any area of his body. After a while, the sand had made the big guy become a small 10 foot high figure.

"_Naruto, hit him hard to finish him off!"_ Kina yelled in her mind. _"Once you do, hit Gaara hard! He'll wake up, and then Ichibi will be forced back into his cage."_

Naruto nodded. He put his hand out to the side as bright blue chakra whirled around his hand. He finally figured out how to do this one after nearly banging his head on a tree.

Create the shell first, then add the energy, and finally the spin. In order to complete this technique you had to do it backwards.

Naruto lifted a bright blue ball of energy above his head. "RASENGAN!" He yelled out, and dashed forward.

The impact of the rasengan was hard, and the sand figure blew up as the sand spread all over the arena. The sand started to form around a semi-floating Gaara.

"_HURRY NARUTO!"_Kina yelled mentally.

Naruto dashed forward. "WAKE UP YOU BASTARD!" He jumped up, and did a hard punch to the red head.

Gaara's body lurched as soon as he was hit on the head. The jutsu that kept him asleep faded off, and Gaara painfully brought himself to consciousness.

"N-no! Stay away from me! I want to LIVE!" Gaara tried to feel for his sand, but for some reason he couldn't even move his arms.

Naruto watch as Gaara struggled to get up, but couldn't even do that. "S-stay away from me!"

"Do you want to know why I'm so strong?" Naruto asked Gaara with a serious face.

"You're strong because you fight for yourself, right!" Gaara said as if he knew the answer.

"No."

Gaara froze. Someone who was this strong that didn't fight for himself? "H-how are you so strong then?"

"I fight to protect the ones I care about most. I fight to protect the ones that are the most precious to me." He said. "Maybe if you did the same, you could become stronger as well." Naruto said.

Gaara dropped his head to look at the sky. "I don't have anyone to fight for."

"Then find someone. Hey, you can start with your siblings. You might not be on the best of terms now, but I think that would be a good place to start." Naruto said.

Gaara looked back up, and went straight to the silver haired kid's eyes.

The determination. Courage. Strength. He could see them all in Naruto's eyes. Gaara didn't know it, but the moment he looked straight into those eyes, his life would change forever.

Gaara dropped his head back down to the ground. "I forfeit."

The barrier around the arena dropped as the proctor came back down into the arena. He walked back to the center of the arena, and turned to face the audience. "Winner by forfeit of the third match Uzumaki Naruto!"

The crowd cheered. They had just seen things they would never forget. A silver haired kitsune hanyou standing in the middle of a crystal blue field. A deadly spear flying through the air. A giant raccoon dog beaten down just like that. This was certainly a special chuunin exam indeed.

The Hokage fell to one knee. "Hokage-sama!" Jiraiya yelled out, and ran to the old man's side. "Are you okay?"

The Hokage coughed once. "Yes. I'll be fine. I'm just getting too old for this shit."

Jiraiya chuckled. "Have you thought of a successor?"

The Hokage looked up to see Naruto enjoying the round of applause and cheering from everyone. The kid was finally getting the attention he longed for from the people.

Sarutobi's eyes grow sad. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but you're not ready yet." He whispered.

"You said something?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes. I think I have a candidate in mind." He said smiling towards Jiraiya.

Jiraiya's eyes widened. "I wont do it."

"Who said it would be you? I'm thinking of your teammate."

Jiraiya sighed. "You know she hates this village."

"Oh? I think I have a trump card that can get her back." He said, and looked back down to Naruto. _'I'm sorry. You just aren't ready yet. I'll let you have a few more years of fun before you wear this burden.'_

On the arena floor.

Naruto bowed a few times. He looked over to his right to see that Kina had already shrunk down to one tailed size again. She jumped up on his shoulder. "Let's go. A certain raven haired girl wants to meet you!" He quickly ran up to meet Hinata in the competitor's box.

The proctor however received a message from an ANBU. He nodded, and the ANBU left. He focused the chakra into his throat. "Due to difficulties, we will be repairing the field once more for the final match. Yes, I said Final Match. The last match shall be a 3 way battle royal between Hyuuga Hinata, Sabaku no Temari, and Uzumaki Naruto." He finalized. "Please come back in one hour to see the final match."

The concrete slab was once more pushed over the top of the arena to cover it up.

Up in the kage box.

The Hokage slumped into his chair, and relaxed. "I really am getting too old for this shit."

The fire Daimyo chuckled. "You should retire again. It was nice to see you in the hot seat, but I think said hot seat can make you feel a lot older then you are."

The Hokage chuckled. "True. I feel like I'm 120 years old at the moment. I think I'll assign one last mission, attend three more meetings, pass a few laws, promote a few shinobi and kunoichi, and then retire."

"Oh? So I take it you've picked a successor?"

"Yes, and I can finally get her here now that the key to get her back is in the know."

"What do you mean by that?"

"A Hokage never meddles and talks. He only meddles, and smiles at other people's agonies." He smiled.

"I thought that was old people." the fire Daimyo chuckled.

"Oh, right, sorry. Old age and all." He joked.

"Riiight."

In the competitor's box. When the concrete slab covers over the top of the arena, the contestants can't see anything below ground, and they are pushed out into the audience stands by ANBU.

When they reached the audience stands, Hinata turned, and gave Naruto a peck on the cheek. Naruto blushed. The kisses were nice and all, but he still couldn't get his feelings straight on the girl. Did he really like her like that?

Kurenai and Shino show up to save Naruto. "Hello you two." Kurenai said.

"Hello, Kurenai-sensei." The two respond.

"Hey Shino-san. How's training?" Naruto asked.

"Hello to you, too. My taijutsu training is coming along fine, but..."

Kurenai chuckled. "He seems to be better at kenjutsu then taijutsu."

Hinata spoke up. "Really?" She asked.

Shino nodded, and answered, "Yes. For some reason a blade seems better for my technical abilities then most taijutsu styles. Kurenai drilled me in many styles, but I couldn't seem to get the hang of any one. When I picked up a sword however, it felt right."

"Why don't you ask Tenten for help then? I'm sure she'd love to help." Naruto said. "Andaddanewmembertothetogatta." He quickly adds.

Despite Naruto's attempt to hide the truth the other two laugh. "I don't know if I'll join, but I'm sure that the kenjutsu lessons she could give me would be invaluable. Anyways," He adds in a different tone. "I watched your matches so far."

"Oh, yeah. Wha'dja think?" Naruto asked.

"Spectacular." Shino said in one summed up word. "You are worlds beyond me though." He looked a little sad that his teammates were leaving him behind.

Naruto chuckled. "Don't worry. Once you start training with Tenten, you'll gain lots of ground. Trust me on that." He adds. "You WILL learn."

Shino wasn't sure on how to take that. "I'll keep that in mind."

Naruto turned to Hinata. "Wanna go get some ramen? I heard Teuchi-ji-san opened up a stand here in the arena for today only!" He said, clearly exited.

Hinata giggled. "Sure, I'll join you." Secretly, she was getting hungry herself, and ramen sounded good.

Naruto turned to his other teammates. "You wanna join us?" He asked.

Shino nodded. "I'll join you."

Kurenai smiled. "Sorry, but I have jounin duties. You three go have fun."

"Alright, we will!" Naruto said. The three ran off to find Teuchi's stand.

–

Tbc...

(1) Honestly... that was my longest paragraph EVER! That little beginning was something I added on a whim. I just wanted to show you guys just how truly SCREWED Kabuto is.

I'll leave Kabuto's torture up to your imagination, as I don't have the stomach to write out what I had planned. Have fun! (And if you think I'm a weak stomach type, you're dead wrong. Sat through 2 girls 1 cup like it was nothing, while my friends all threw up.)

(2) … I have to be honest. I actually set this match up so that Lee would win... but as I was typing, I thought of this, and in truth, I kinda liked it more then the other version of that fight. The stats match up anyways. If Temari ever summoned that little weasel in any match she had been in, basically.. You would end up like Lee in any circumstance. The wind speeds that both Temari and Katamari can create have to be exceeding 300 or more mph to be able to destroy a forest that big in episode 125 of the naruto cannon series... not shippuden. Wind was cutting HUGE trees left and right like they were NOTHING! That's fast enough wind speed to lift a big building off the ground and throw it like a rock... Much less a person.

Okay, so you guys got to see another full step into MK. Naruto has, at this point completely mastered step 3. Steps 4,5, and 6 have YET to be even mentioned to Naruto, but you have seen something akin to the final form from Kina. However, don't even think you know what the final form will be like. Kina just showed the tip of the iceberg.

Please tell me how I did on these matches... and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if some of you hate the gaara v. naruto match... I just can't seem to get the amount of description just right.

P.S. - I hate Kabuto, Orochimaru, and that prick of an uchiha... what's his name? Oh yeah.. Sasuke.


	18. Chapter 18: The End of the Chuunin Exams

Disclamer: If I actually owned Naruto, he would be a badass in the cannon. The Ocs I do own ARE badass.

Vote poll: As of the moment this chapter is posted, the voting poll will be closed. I thank you all who have voted. You can see the final results at the top of my page.

Author's apology: I'm sorry this one took SO DAMN long to come out. I had a few problems with this one, and it wasn't the fight scene. It was introducing, in the most mysterious way, my oldest ever OC. Far far older then any other OC I've ever had, but strangely, has NEVER been written into any of my stories. The reason is simple. This OC is a dear and very personal one to me, and is the main reason this story even exists in the first place, besides attempting to make a bad-ass Naruto.

Most of the OC in this story, and my other stories, is a part of my personality. Try to figure out what each OC represents. There are, as of this chapter, 6 OCs in this story that represent a part of me, not including Gin Mekami (He technically hasn't been scene yet). Good luck finding them all! (Note: ANBU don't count)

Now on to the fic...

–

Chapter 18: The end of the chuunin exams

The war between the sound, sand, and leaf... actually, it's not really a war anymore, it's just more of a clean up job for the leaf. Sure the Leaf nin were still outnumbered by 3 to 1, but it really didn't matter.

Moral for the sound was low, and even completely disappeared when that they heard about their now dead leader. Some were even defecting and giving up on the spot, others were crying out for their dead snake leader, and even more were committing seppuku on the spot once their minds were freed from his influence. Some were rallied up by their commanders to keep fighting, but everyone knew it was just suicide facing the leaf now.

For the Sand, it was more of just falling to their knees in disbelief. To hear that the commander, leader, the one who guided the village day-in and day-out had been killed by the very ones who you thought were allies in this war, well, how would you feel? Yes, he wasn't the best leader Sand ever had, but he was still someone who held power and was looked up to in respect for that.

For the Leaf, hearing that both of the pillars of power for the enemies were taken out in one fell swoop by their own pillar of power, their morals were boosted to high spirits. Many were smiling and thinking that the battle was already won, now all they had to do was clean up the last of the mess.

The front gate was no exception. In fact, it was where the nastiest of the battles had happened. Most of all three of the armies had been located there, even if most of the participants there were considered cannon fodder for the Sound and Sand. Along the main road to the front gate to Konohagakure were bodies of both sound and sand. Some were twitching, trying to hold on to life. A few of the older ones in the battle didn't bother, and just stared at the clouds waiting for the darkness to come. Some Leaf nin bodies were among the bodies, but a majority were sound.

However, not all bodies on the road were corpses or becoming one. One figure was walking among the carnage, not paying any attention to the blood and gore around it. An ANBU nearby was watching said figure walk along them main road to Konoha. The figure was short, child like in build. The flowing black dress that reached the figure's knees was a simple one meant for a child with frills on the shoulders and just above the stomach. The figure's calf length flowing platinum hair swayed behind the figure's 8 year old female body. The figure suddenly stopped walking, turned it's head towards the observer, and the ANBU was staring straight into my pure blue eyes. I gave the Anbu an innocent smile.

One word escaped the ANBU's mouth. "Shit..."

–

After eating in silence at the ramen stand set up in the arena, the three made their way back up to the audience stands. When Naruto, Hinata, and Shino finally made it up there, an ANBU appeared next to the three. "Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata. You are to come with me." He started walking for the hallway that lead to the arena floor.

Naruto shrugged, and the two started walking down when Shino's voice stopped them. "Give them a grand show, you two."

They both looked over their shoulders, and Naruto gave him the thumbs up. "You better believe we will." They then ran off to catch up to the ANBU.

–

The Hokage and the Daimyo were talking about various subjects. Well, it was more the Daimyo talking. "So, I was about to put my hand into the hole-"

"Oh, look. The exams are starting!" The hokage said in a revealed tone.

The concrete ceiling for the arena slowly opened up. When the crowd could see the whole arena again, three teens were standing all facing each other. On Naruto's shoulder was Kina, on Hinata's Hiraku, Akamaru being told to stay on the sidelines, and finally on Temari's shoulder... was that a weasel? She was currently petting the little thing. Of course, the Daimyo instantly had hearts for eyes.

There were two grown men standing outside of the circle that the teens made.

One was Shiranui Genma, and the other was Gekko Hayate. They both nodded to each other, and then faced the crowd holding a bird sign.

Genma spoke up first, "Welcome to the final round of the third chuunin exams!" The crowd cheered.

"Behind us are the three finalists who will compete in a battle royal!" said Hayate.

"We thank you all for staying with us as we repaired the field."

"Before we start the final round, we will explain the rules for the final match!"

"Hayate and I will act as proctors for this round as watching a three way battle is too hard for one person."

"With that being said, if one of us says that a participant is done for, then that is final. No ifs, ands, or buts. The match will continue until only one is left standing."

Then both said at once. "We hope you enjoy this match!" And they bowed. They turned around.

"Are you ready?" Genma asked all three of them.

All three nodded, determination to win in their eyes.

Both men raised their hands up. "HAJMIE!" The brought them down, and then disappeared.

Instantly, before anyone else could move, Naruto brought his hands up into a ram sign. "KAI!"

The next moment, everyone froze. Kina's eyes widened. _'That's all ten seals at once. Naruto isn't going to seriously use it... he is.'_ Evil mental laugh. She turned, and jumped off of Naruto's shoulder, and disappeared in the nearby brush.

Naruto spoke up while looking at Hinata. "Before the exams even started, we agreed to go all out. Well, here I am!"

Naruto was currently standing up straight with a smirk on his face. Surrounding him was a massive blue aura. Blue waves rippled along the ground from Naruto's feet. His clothes were slightly floating due to the massive amount of energy being let loose.

Hinata was the first to come out of shock. She activated her Byakugan, to keep her eyes on both of the competitors. She leaped back into the trees, knowing that any attempt to find her position would be futile as the amount of energy laced in the air would make it difficult to detect her hidden energy.

Temari was still stuck in her position. She had NEVER felt this much chakra at once, and it had overloaded her senses to the point that her sight was fuzzing a little. She instantly backed off into the trees in hopes of trying to find out why this boy had so much.

Hinata asked Hiraku mentally, _"Why does he have all that chakra?"_

"_It's because of his seal. The fourth hokage made it so that Kina's yokou could be changed into a more potent version of chakra. This, of course, threw any control he would've had out the window. Maybe that's why he worked so hard on those chakra control exercises."_ Hiraku answered.

"_So, how do we counter it? That much chakra flowing off of him has to be used for something, he wouldn't just waste it all."_ Hinata said.

"_This is just speculation on my part, but it could be that he doesn't have any chakra control right now."_ Hiraku answered.

"_No, there has to be something. Do you know anything about the Mizu Kanryuu style? He's boasted it about it to me several times."_ Hinata said.

"_No, I'm sorry. In retrospect to how old I am, Kina is far older. Also, I learned everything I know from humans, and some gods. I don't know anything that 'normal' demons know."_ She said back.

"_How do we get past that barrier he's made then? Is it possible that he could run out of chakra soon?"_ She asked.

"_No. Kina is the kyuubi, remember? And if Kina's energy is being converted into his chakra, and he has high regenerative abilities as well, then he could keep that up for hours. In other words, while he does have a limited amount of chakra, about double S rank at that, his regeneration rate is very high, giving him near infinite chakra. His endurance is far higher then yours, so wearing him out would also be a bad idea."_ Hiraku answered.

"_So what do we do?"_ Hinata asked.

"_Let's observe for a little while. Stay on the defensive for now, and dodge whatever he flings at you. I'll tell you if I have a plan."_ Hiraku said mentally.

Hinata nodded, and looked down to the field.

Meanwhile, with Temari.

_'Why does he have so much chakra! It's absurd, it's so much! What can I do against that much chakra? What about Taijutsu? No, he's proficient in it, and my senses are dulled being near him. Genjutsu? No, I'm not very proficient in it, and the amount of chakra he's giving off would make it hard to cast anything on him, much less holding it. He could break it with a swipe of his hand.'_ She thought. _'Ninjutsu us my only option. Think Temari, what's in my arsenal? I could use that, but let's wait for him to run low on energy first.'_

With Naruto.

He was just leisurely standing there, waiting for when the air would finally be ready for him to manipulate with. The longer he stood there, the easier it will be for his seventh sense to gain a foot hold. _'It's only a matter of time.'_

"_Don't get cocky, gaki!"_ Kina yelled at him mentally. _"Keep all of your senses up. Until Seventh sense is up, you can't detect them."_

"_Hai."_ Naruto's face grew serious. He needed to buy time. _"What should I use? Fuinjutsu, ninjutsu, or taijutsu?"_ He thought to no one.

He smiled.

He put his hand in his jacket, and pulled out a slip of paper. On it looked to be four very complicated seals created with a special red mix available only to advanced users.

Jiraiya thought back to one of the days that he was training Naruto.

_Flashback_

_Jiraiya and Naruto were sitting in a clearing with many books opened to various pages around them. __Jiraiya and Naruto were looking at a piece of paper Naruto had put before Jiraiya. The old pervert was carefully studying the seal his apprentice had made._

"_Not bad kid, but you do realize that these two symbols cancel each other out, right?" Jiraiya said, pointing to a specific part of the seal._

_Naruto smiled. "I know that!" He pointed to another part of the seal. "That's why I placed these ones here."_

_Jiraiya looked at the seal closely. His eyes widened at the double usage that another set of symbols would do if activated. He smiled. The complexity of the seals his protege were making were increasing every day, if not by the hour. The kid had a natural talent for the seals, and he was trying to figure out WHEN the boy would find out about the time displacement seals his father had created, and how the boy would implement them. He looked over the symbol once again. "I must say, this one is much more complex then even a trained eye perceives." He paused, looking at the symbol. "I think you're about ready to take the advanced seal test."_

"_Advanced seal test?"_

"_Yes, right now, with the seals, symbols, and complexities we have studied are only at the intermediate level, which is what you are right now. The next level will be even harder, and the test for it is more difficult then the average test I give you."_

_The silver haired kid smirked. "Bring it."_

_Jiraiya chuckled. This kid was a wonder in the making._

End flashback

The kid slammed the paper onto the ground, and activated them. The seals flashed in a bright blue light, and then died away to show that the paper had disappeared, leaving black markings in the ground. The kid's smirk grew. He thought back to his first days of fuinjutsu training.

_Flashback_

_The kid was looking at the book of seals given to him by his perverted godfather. The book wasn't hard, and he was getting everything down pat._

_Just like talking about a devil, his sensei for the session walked up to him. "So gaki. Any questions yet?"_

"_Yeah, just one. Is there any limits to seals?"_

_Jiraiya's smirk turned into a full blown smile. "Gaki, if there's one thing that makes seals so damn useful, it's the fact they can do Anything."_

"_Anything?" He started to create some of his wildest dreams._

End Flashback

"Anything.. Fuinjutsu: Shouheki."_(Seal technique: Barrier)_ He smirked. He stood right back up, but kept his foot on the almost hidden seal on the ground. He had just bought his time. Due to using so much chakra though, his body didn't have the aura of absolute anymore, but he was still leaking chakra at a steady pace, and slowly lacing the air around him with it.

Temari studied what the silver brat did. While she wasn't proficient in any seals, she knew that wasn't all for a bright light. He was just standing there, waiting for them to come at him. She assessed her situation. The exam was on a no time limit, no holds barred match. Meaning anything goes as long as two people were fighting. She didn't know why, but she had a very bad feeling that time would only work for the boy. She fingered her kunai pouch behind her, and put a hand on her little weasel's head. If there was one thing you should never give a strategist, it's time.

Hinata was perplexed. Her secret crush had just done something to do with a large amount of chakra. So much so that she would have been exhausted trying to even use half the amount he just used when he slammed the object onto the ground, and that was saying something because she had huge reserves for most gennin. _'Why would he have used so much chakra?'_ She wondered.

Hiraku answered for her, _'It's a fuinjutsu, and a pretty advanced on at that.'_

_'Fuinjutsu? You mean like the caged bird seal?'_ She wondered.

_'Yes, but the nature of this one feels light.'_ Hiraku answered again.

_'Light?'_

_'There are many different types of seals. Light is just one of them. Light seals are mostly defensive or supplementary in nature.'_ Hiraku thought back.

_'So, he's just put a big bad defensive wall between me and him, didn't he?'_

_'Assuming he's a seal user, then yes. Attack him at a distance. You'll see what I mean.'_ Hiraku said.

Hinata did just that. She threw several kunai directly at him.

When the kunai was just a bare five feet away, a dim light shined just beneath Naruto's right foot, and a wall made from rock appeared between him and the kunai. The kunai bounced off of the hard rock, and then the wall disappeared. Naruto was slowly looking around for the source of the kunai.

The problem with him releasing all his chakra seals was that all of his senses are thrown off in the beginning. After a few minutes his senses would be back to normal, actually better then that, but until then he was at a slight disadvantage. He didn't like releasing all of his chakra seals, but he had agreed to go all out, and going all out he shall. People assume that having more chakra is equal to being a badass. Well, that's completely and utterly wrong. In fact, Naruto always envied those with high amounts of natural chakra control, and it peeved him every time he thought about how many "Years" he spent using clones to get to where he was now. If it wasn't for the Kage bunshin then he wouldn't be anywhere near as good as he is now. Though, the hard work made it worth it in the end.

He grunted, now wasn't the time to get lost in thought. A rock barricade came up from the ground to protect his backside. He whirled around to see who threw it, but he saw nothing but grass in that direction. Another to his right, and he saw a flash of white and blue.

"Kamaitachi no Jutsu!"_(Sickle Weasel Technique)_ A blast of wind flew at him from behind him, and the seal below him glowed white for a small instant before the blast of cutting wind was neutralized.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and saw Temari cursing, and then moving to get out of the line of sight. Naruto flashed a hand sign. "Fūton: Daitoppa"_(Wind style: Great breakthrough)_ The blast of wind was directed to wear Temari was going, and since the girl was in mid-jump, couldn't dodge the incoming wind.

She waved her fan once channeling chakra through it. A single sickle of wind cut the incoming wind in half. One side of the Daitoppa hit Temari in the legs, throwing her off her trajectory, and making her smack into a tree with her stomach. She peeled off the tree, and then fell 10 feet to the ground completely winded. She clutched her stomach trying her hardest to breathe, but it was only coming in short gasps.

Naruto turned his attention back to trying to find Hinata. He turned just in time to see a kunai trip a wire on one side of the stadium. This set off three kunai to launch straight for his position from one side. He turned again to look for where the first kunai came from, only to see three waves of shuriken heading for his position.

"_Hit him!"_ Hinata yelled in her mind. Hiraku nodded, and then raced forward surrounded by lightning. The kitten raced, but was intercepted by Kina.

Naruto smirked. The three kunai and the waves of shuriken were deflected by two separate walls of stone.

Hinata narrowed her eyes. _'Wait a minute, why did Kina need to intercept Hiraku? It couldn't be.'_ "_Hiraku, I'm going in to try and attack him head on."_

Hiraku didn't respond as she dodged Kina's chakra wave attack. Hinata dashed out of the foliage and raced towards Naruto.

The silver haired boy turned just in time to see Hinata coming right at him. He mentally cursed. The seal on the ground only protected from projectiles, not from head on attackers. He dashed backwards just as Hinata was going to hit him with her taijutsu. He evaded five more dash attacks before jumping up into a tree. He crossed his arms over his chest, and then threw them outward. "Karada Joseki."_(Body expelling)_ A wave of chakra lashed out from the boy, and Hinata, who had jumped up to attack him, was forced back to the ground. The boy threw a fist out, and Hinata dodged to the side, just in time to see a small crater form right where she was.

Hinata dodged more attacks as Naruto launched wave after wave of impacts at her until she was just outside of his range. He dashed forward, and appeared just in front of Hinata, and was about to attack when he saw a small weasel drop a kunai on the ground in between them. This kunai had an explosive tag attached to it. Both fighters dodged backwards just in time as the explosive tag went off. Both fighters were thrown from the cloud of smoke, because of the blast, but both looked okay to continue fighting. That was, until they both heard another tell-tale hissing sound of an explosive tag right behind them. Naruto dashed to the right, and he appeared on the other side of the stadium. Hinata went stock still, but then faded away only to reappear right above Naruto halfway through an axe kick. Naruto brought both of his arms up to block the kick, and Hinata pushed off of Naruto's arms and did a mid-air flip backwards, landing a few feet away from the boy.

Temari smirked. _'Hehe'_ On the ground in front of her was a pile of explosive tags strapped to a wire. There were several piles of ninja wires, and a kunai attacked to one end of each. She bit her thumb, and smeared blood on her fully open fan. _'Now to wait for the perfect moment to strike.'_ Her small weasel appeared on her shoulder, and she petted the weasel on it's head. "Good job, Kutrina-chan." The weasel mewed, and then licked Temari's face.

Naruto and Hinata reengaged in taijutsu. Hinata dodged a high impact by going under his arm. She brought her arm in an upward diagonal slash across Naruto's chest. Naruto blocked the hand's path with the side of his arm, and went to kick her head. They traded blows like that for a while, and a smile slowly grew on their faces. Naruto had yet to be hit by the girl's slash attack, but even blocking them made Naruto's arms hurt slightly. Getting a full blast across his chest would hurt like hell. Similarly, Hinata had yet to get a full impact during their fight, but near misses made the air pressure much heavier, and was starting to wear her body down due to going from high to low pressure constantly.

They was slowly making their way across the stadium flow, until they felt a large chakra spike from the woods nearby. Explosive tags on the ground gone unnoticed flared and exploded in waves around the two in the center of the stadium. Just when the explosions were closing in on the two, the seal on the ground below Naruto's feet flashed purple and the explosions went outward instead of hitting the two.

Temari's voice rang out then. "Kuchiyose: Katamari!" A giant weasel broke through the layer of smoke surrounding the fighters with a giant sickle.

Time seemed to slow down to Naruto as he saw the weasel bring up the sickle to cut both of them through. Naruto brought up his hand, and channeled just the right amount. Naruto caught the giant blade with his bare hand, his arm strained to hold it away from him. Time sped back up, and both weasel and fox-boy growled at each other.

The air around Naruto hummed with energy. _'Finally!'_ He yelled in his mind. Just then, several wires with explosive tags wrapped it's way around both fighters as the weasel backed off into the dissipating smoke.

When the smoke completely cleared a blond sand-nin was brushing the fur of the giant weasel with her hand, and a smirk on her face. "Forfeit."

Naruto chuckled. "No." and then focused on the air around him. The air quickly turned into a small tornado, and tore up the wires and tags. Hinata channeled chakra into her body, and cut the wires and tags with pure chakra.

Katamari had a surprised face. Temari stepped back. "Crap." She retreated back into the forest, along with the giant weasel.

Hinata did as well. She had no clue Naruto could do THAT. He just made the wind move out of pure thought. She smirked. "_Hiraku. Time to sun bathe."_ The cat smirked, and disappeared, only to reappear on top of the hokage balcony. She stretched in a very cat like way, and then curled up under the sun. Hinata sat down, and closed her eyes to draw in Natural energy.

Naruto's eyes widened when he felt Natural energy being drawn to a point, and then being beamed to Hinata. _"Crap, I had to forget that Hinata's a sage as well!"_ He went into his coat, and brought out another seal.

_Flashback_

"_So what's my test?" Naruto asked._

"_Well, considering what you've learned, this test should be doable, but barely." Jiraiya said. "Your test is to specifically block Sage Mode. Nothing else."_

"_Why only sage mode?" Naruto asked._

"_Well, Natural energy is the hardest to control, and as thus, hardest to block. You can barely keep the natural energy locked away in those seals on your arm. If they're cut up at all, all the natural energy would be released uselessly. Also, you must do this without placing any seals on me! You have to figure out how to stop Sage mode, when I'm clear across the clearing. Got it?" Jiraiya smiled evilly, like somehow figuring the kid wouldn't pass the test._

_Naruto thought about it for a while. "How long do I have to prepare?"_

"_2 hours. You have only that much time to study, prepare, test, and apply." Jiraiya said. "Oh, And I'm pretty good about gathering Natural energy, so this one will be tough." With that Jiraiya, stood up, walked across the clearing, and then sat down in a meditative state. He closed his eyes, and breathed slowly._

_Naruto looked down at the books on the ground. "How do I seal sage mode without sealing him?" He picked up a book, and got to work, trying to figure out how to block the sage._

_About an hour later_

'Let's see.'_ Naruto's thought train began as he was reading a particular seal._ 'Chakra signal. This seal applies a heavy chakra induced atmosphere in a 1 meter range around the seal, making it look like someone is there when they actually, aren't.'_ He paused in thought trying to see if he could make that work in another way. He grinned, and flipped back a few pages._ 'Chakra Distribution. This seal distributes chakra to other seals.'_ He smiled, an idea was forming._

End flashback

Naruto slammed the seal onto the ground like last time, and like last time, a small flash, and the red ink turned black. The paper stayed though, and a trail of smaller seals started to seep out of the main seal and onto the ground around it. The characters then started to fly directly up into the air. The seals displaced themselves randomly around the field and created a 'forest' of seals all around the field. The air hummed with energy for a brief second, and then the seals started to glow blue.

Hinata suddenly felt cold. The energy building up inside of her to create sage mode was suddenly gone! She opened her eyes and gasped. Lines of blue chakra was standing up at random places. The lines all converged to a seal that was on the ground that was under Naruto's hand. Naruto slowly stood up.

"Like my Anti-sage seal, Hinata-chan? I created it with battling sages in mind, and I doubt the town would survive both of us going into sage mode." Naruto stated calmly. "The best part about this seal is that I only have to place it on a solid surface, and the seal does the rest!"

Hinata chuckled. "I admit it, Naruto. You're good. But that wont stop me!" She mentally cursed though. The only way to beat him now was to use THOSE techniques. She really didn't want to use them, but she would never back down in front of Naruto. She stood back up, and carefully considered her distance from him. She had to get this right.

Temari gawked at the sight of the seals. She walked up to one, and reached out to touch it. She felt no force, and her hand went right through the seal. It was like a bushin, you can see it, but it's not there. She furrowed her brows, and looked back to Naruto. Katamari looked up to her. "Temari."

She looked back down at her summon. "Yes?"

Katamari looked back to the fox-boy. "Take caution." The giant weasel wasn't a very talkative one, and was more of a social introvert, but the girl understood him.

"Why? Is he dangerous." Temari asked, and Kutrina mewed.

"Hmm. He created a vacuum inside a tornado." Katamari responded.

Temari gasped. "But, I thought it was impossible to make a vacuum without hand signs!"

"You? Maybe. A master?" He looked back to Naruto. "No." He answered.

Temari inhaled. Wind masters were few and far in between, and were feared above all else in the desert. She knew what Katamari was saying. This kid was a wind master. If he could create vacuums without hand signs, and still fight normally, then there wasn't much she could do against him. Hell, even fire users were pitiful against wind masters. But hell, the kid before her was younger then her. _'Maybe he's one of those prodigies?'_ she thought.

Temari sighed. "Alright. I guess that's all the help I need today, Katamari-kun." Katamari nodded, and disappeared in a poof of smoke. She looked up to a proctor that was standing on the wall. She jumped up, and ran along the wall till she was near him. "I give up. They've got me beat in everything, and I'm out of chakra."

Genma nodded. "Temari has forfeited. Only two contestants remain!" He shouted out. He turned back to the girl. "Go get some rest. Be in the center of the stadium once the battle is over." He then looked over to Hayate, who nodded and disappeared. Hayate needed to gather the other contestants.

Up in the kage box

A Dog ANBU appeared near the Hokage. He put his hand up to his mouth, and whispered something into the old man's ear. Sarutobi's eyes widened greatly as his face grew paler. He turned to the ANBU. "Are you absolutely sure it was her!" He asked.

The ANBU nodded.

The hokage looked much older then he really was at that moment. "You can't stop her, just keep an eye on her as much as you can."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." And the ANBU disappeared.

The old man looked out over the village. "I hope to kami herself that I can last until Tsunade can make it here."

Uzu smirked behind her mask.

The Daimyo looked to him. "What are you talking about?"

Sarutobi looked over to his fellow leader. "A disaster is going to happen soon, Daimyo-dono."

"Oh, it can't be that bad, Hokage-dono."

"You're right. It's much worse." He looked back down to the arena.

Down in the arena

Hinata and Naruto turned to each other after they heard the proclamation of the proctor Genma. They both nodded, and then dashed at one another. Naruto punched an impact dead center of Hinata's body, only for her to stop suddenly, and then disappear, only to reappear above and behind Naruto in a mid axe kick. Naruto jumped forward and turn around, only to dodge to the side as Hinata launched a slash attack. The fox-boy jumped back a bit, and then wind swept Hinata away once she got close to him.

Naruto concentrated on the air around him as he breathed in slowly. He stretched his hand forward, and a blast of wind flashed at Hinata. Hinata slashed at the air before her, cutting the wind in half. Hinata breathed out slowly only to gasp as she saw more wind flying at her this time in the form of blades. She planted her feet into the ground, and spun on her heel. She spread her hands out flat with the thumb going straight into the air, and the pinky facing the ground. A thin strands of chakra flew out of each of her fingers as she spun. While this all happened, Hinata called out the name. "Yoken bouseki!"_(Foresight: spinning)_ As she spun, thousands of chakra strands got longer and twirled around her, effectively destroying the wind attack.

Up in the stands

Hiashi's heart stopped as he saw the technique performed. His face got paler, and he stuttered for a moment.

Hanabi looked up to him, and asked, "Otou-sama. What's wrong?"

Hiashi broke out of his stupor, and looked at his youngest daughter. "N-nothing, Hanabi-chan." He looked back at Hinata. "Nothing's wrong. Yet."

Down in the arena

Hinata finished her spinning, and let her hands fall to her sides. The strings of chakra dissipated into thin air.

Back up in the stands

Hiashi breathed a sigh of relief. _'Good, she doesn't know about that move yet.'_

Back in the arena

The battle continued. Neither fighter willing to give up. Naruto used his high control of wind to keep Hinata at a distance, and Hinata kept using her slashes to go through the wind attacks. Both were smiling, and looking like they were having fun.

Hinata suddenly went still mid-attack. Naruto's eyes widened when she disappeared, and looked around for her, only to get a slash across his back. He stumbled forward, the pain from the attack was small, but he was breathing a bit more now. "Nice one, Hinata-chan. How about this?" Suddenly the wind turned into a tornado around Naruto, and then disappeared along with Naruto. Hinata kept calm, and searched for him with her Byakugan. She saw large flashes of chakra all over the place, but never caught sight of him. Naruto appeared under her already halfway through a kick to her chin. Hinata didn't react in time, and was kicked into the sky.

Hinata did however perform another Yoken bouseki to keep Naruto away from her, which succeeded, and the girl landed. She rubbed her chin. That kick seriously hurt. Both fighters chuckled a bit, before Hinata went still, and then both Naruto and Hinata disappeared. Hinata reappeared moments later in the dead center of the arena. She threw several kunai and shuriken out onto the field, and then focused on her elemental manipulation. Lightning arched from her hands to the metal weapons on the ground. Hinata then focused on the chakra flashes she was seeing with her Byakugan. She couldn't see any kind of pattern in the flashes. Suddenly, she saw Naruto right behind and above her halfway through a drop kick. Hinata brought both of her arms up, still charged with lightning, and blocked it. Her arms gave out from the attack, and Naruto ended up kicking her in her shoulder hard. Naruto didn't get away with it though, as he was severally electrocuted. Both fighters moved away from the other, and turned to face their opponent.

The sun was starting to get low in the sky by this point in time, and everyone had been there for more then 7 hours now. "Hinata, why don't we finish it off with one last move?" Naruto asked.

Hinata thought about it, and nodded. "Sure why not. I've wanted to use this for a while now anyways." She crossed her arms over her chest, and relaxed her hands. Lightning started to arch off her relaxed rands into the ground below.

Naruto chuckled, and lifted his arm up to the side. Lightning started to arch off of Naruto's hands as he concentrated on on his technique.

Both focused on each other for while as the lightning became more intense between the two.

"Raiton!" Both started.

"Kei!"_(Whip)_ Hinata dashed forward with a long whip in each hand made of pure lightning, and lashed out with both of her hands when she got close.

"Eihi!"_(Eternal Light)_ Naruto dashed forward with a palm made of lightning. When he got close to Hinata he pushed his hand forward, and a ball of light shined out.

The two techniques collided, and every watched had to close their eyes from the sheer light. After a few moments, people peeled their eyes open to look down at the arena.

Naruto and Hinata were standing with their backs facing each other, and their hands in the final positions for each of their jutsu. Naruto had two whip like burn marks going across his chest. Hinata had a severe burn in her stomach. They both stand up, and turn around to look at each other.

"Well, looks like I lose." Naruto stated, and then blacked out due to the fact that the lightning had overloaded his nervous system.

"Not really, Naruto-kun." Hinata fainted from her eyes being overloaded from Naruto's jutsu.

Genma dropped down into the arena, and checked both kids. He sighed, and called for the medics. He stood up, and looked to the audience. "This match is a draw between Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto."

The crowd cheered. It was a good fight, with an outstanding end.

The Hokage landed in the arena, and walked up to Hinata first. He turned the girl over, and put his hand on her eyes. His palm glowed green for a moment, and then he moved his hand up to her forehead. Hinata's eyes fluttered open for a moment. "Ho-hokage-sama!" She saw the old man smiling down at her.

"Well done, Hyuuga-san. You fared quite well against Naruto. Wait while I wake him up." he said, and then got up, and walked over to Naruto. Hinata stood up slowly.

Sarutobi touched the back of Naruto's neck with a little bit of electricity, and Naruto immediately shot up. "Huh? What happened?"

"I'll explain in a moment." Sarutobi said. He looked over to Genma, and said, "Bring them out here."

Genma nodded, and then disappeared.

Sarutobi helped Naruto standup. He noticed that the burn marks on Naruto's chest had disappeared. He looked back to Hinata who was looking as cheeky as ever, despite the fact that she still had a nasty burn mark on her stomach.

A few minutes later, and Naruto and Hinata talking about how each jutsu of theirs worked, the rest of the contestants along with Genma and Hayate walked out onto the field. They had all of the contestants line up just like they did before the battles. The only one missing really was Mubi the Ame nin who had fought Tenten in the first rounds. He didn't make it.

Sarutobi looked at each of the Shinobi and Kunoichi lined up before him. Sarutobi held his hand out to his side, and a folder appeared in his hand, courtesy of the ANBU handing it to him.

"The promotion to chuunin is a big step from genin. As a chuunin you will be expected to lead genin and chuunin teams on several different missions going as high as a High B ranked mission. You will be expected to keep a cool head, an open mind, and be able to compensate in situations. Beware. Being promoted to chuunin has many responsibilities, and will be a new type of weight on your shoulders then what you're used to. If you're promoted today, you show that you can be trusted with these responsilibities. Just because you're strong, doesn't mean you can lead a team." He looked each one in the eye as he talked, making sure he had their attention. Even the Nara was paying attention to this. No wait, he's spaced out. Nevermind.

Sarutobi opened his folder, and walked up to the first one in the line. He read the page quietly for a moment, and then looked up.

"Higurashi Tenten. You showed excellent quality in guiding and helping your team through the first two exams, however you didn't step up, and contradict your leader, Hyuuga Neji, when you know you should have in the forest of death. During the Preliminaries you showed skill, dexterity, and the ability to think on your feet. During the first round of the third exam, you showed finesse and skill in your blades. During the second round, you showed bravery and determination to fight,a nd you never backed down. By the count of 4 votes and my approval, you are hereby promoted to Chuunin!" Might Gai appeared right next to the hokage, and handed a Chuunin's jacket to the girl. Tenten accepted the jacket, and put it over her shoulder. She waved as the crowd applauded her. Gai disappeared/

The Hokage moved to his right, and stood before Hinata. He flipped the page over, and read silently for a minute. He looked up. "Hyuuga Hinata. In the First exam, you passed without letting a single point be marked against you. In the second exam, you made suggestions and points out to your comrades when you thought something would work better. You also showed that you can listen as well, and that is a great quality in a leader. In the Preliminaries, you showed strength that no one knew you had, and then some. In the first rounds of the third exam, you showed that you know where your limits are, and I noticed that even though you took it easy, you never let your guard down. In the second round, you fought with a style that hasn't been scene in quite a long time, and you showed grace that no one has scene for over fifty years. In the third fight, you showed control that no one else here has, and great knowledge in taijutsu and ninjutsu. By the count of 5 votes and my approval you are hereby promoted to Chuunin!" Kurenai appeared next to the Hokage, and handed a chuunin jacket to the girl. Hinata accepted the jacket, and put it on. She blushed and bowed to the audience as they applauded. Kurenai Disappeared.

The Hokage moved to the next Contestant. He looked over the profile for a bit, and then looked up. "Inuzuka Kiba." He paused. "In the first exam, you were never caught, and you never showed fear during the trick question. In the second exam, you showed that you had quite the awareness around you, but you declined in listening to your comrades as much as you should have. In the Preliminaries, you showed quick thinking, and planning ahead of your opponent. In the third exam, you showed great endurance for someone your age, but you lacked control, and you also lacked being cool headed. You didn't listen to you partner. You only received two votes. You did not get the promotion." Kiba nodded, but he steeled his eyes and smiled. There was always next time.

The Hokage moved over to the next person, and studied the paper for a minute. He looked up, and smirked. "Nara Shikamaru!" He said louder then usual. The boy jerked his head up, and looked around. A small "Mendokuse" escaped the boy's lips. The Hokage inwardly chuckled. "In the first exam, you never got caught, and showed that you knew what it took to pass, nothing more, nothing less. In the second exam, you showed that you had great care in not getting into any 'troublesome' situation, and that you lead your team quite well, and easily passed the test. In the Prelminaries, you did the bare minimum to pass, using strategy and a cool mind over panicking. In the third exam, you showed great mental prowess and planning in on the field strategies, and even long term strategies. Even though you lost, in the eyes of a shinobi you won. By the count of 4 votes and my approval you are hereby promoted to Chuunin!" Asuma appeared next to the Hokage, and handed the boy a chuunin jacket. The boy muddered "Mendokuse" and put the jacket on. He didn't respond to the applause, and just tilted his head forward to go back to semi-consciousness.

Sarutobi moved over to the next contender, and studied her profile. "Sabaku no Temari." The girl tensed as he looked her in the eye. "In the first exam, you were caught once. In the second exam, you showed that you had the need to get things done in an orderly amount of time, instead of lolling about. In the Preliminaries, you showed great strength in elemental manipulation and grace. In the First rounds of the third exam, you showed a tactical mind backed by real strength. However, in the eyes of Shinobi you had lost your first round. You made up for that in your second round, when you showed you had timing and stealth. A deadly combination. In the third round, you once again showed great tactical strategies using the fewest resources possible. You backed out, because you knew you were at your limit. A good ninja knows how to fight. A great ninja knows their limits. By the count of 7 votes a note will be sent to the Suna council with our recommendation for promotion to Chuunin!" Temari blushed, and bowed to the audience. They technically couldn't promote her, just give their recommendation. The only ones who can promote is a kage of their village. No one else.

The Professor moved to the next fighter, and studied his profile. "Akamichi Chouji." The boy stopped snacking on his food. "In the first exam, you showed that you trusted your comrades by believing in them the entire time. In the second exam, you showed the willingness of self-sacfricie to protect your friends. In the Preliminaries you showed strength and determination. In the third exams, you showed that speed and strength are equal matches. You received three votes. Not enough to be promoted." Chouji looked down. "You, however, have received my approval. You will be placed on a Trial period of four months where you will have to show that you can lead, and help your comrades. At the end of the trial, you will be rejudged based on what you have shown and if you are fit for the title of full chuunin. You have been given title of Tokubetsu Chuunin!" Asuma appeared next to the hokage again, and handed Chouji a chuunin's vest. Chouji smiled. Hey, it was better then not getting anything for all his trouble.

The leader of the leaf then moved to the next fighter. He studied this one closely. "Rock Lee." The boy ten went into a salute stance. "In the first exam, you showed that you can trust your allies, but you were caught three times. In the second exam, you showed aptitude, and the strength to help those in need. In the Preliminaries, you showed that you have great knowledge in Taijutsu. You followed you sensei's commands smoothly. In the Third exam, you showed that speed can overcome strength, and you did it with style. In the second fight, you showed that you know when your situation can go dire, but you did not show that you can handle it. You received 5 votes, but you did not gain my approval. You will be given title of Tokubetsu Chuunin and go under the four month trial, at the end of which, you will be rejudged to see if you are fit for the title of full chuunin." Lee cried tears of joy! He wouldn't have to run around Konoha 600 times on his hands. Gai appeared next to the Hokage, and handed the boy his Chuunin vest. Lee bowed to the audience at the waist, and continued to cry.

The Hokage moved to the next person in line. He looked at the page for this boy, and then scowled. He turned to look back at the audience, and then at the boy again. "Before I go over this boy's performance, I would like to tell everyone here a story." The people in the audience exchanged confused glances. "Long ago, a boy came to our city. He was a poor orphan who didn't even have the slightest chance of becoming great in many people's eyes. However, that boy stumbled across our very own Jiraiya, the toad sage, and was apprenticed under him. The boy became great, and learned quickly under this man. After some time, he met a girl, and with her help, became the very thing enemies of Konoha feared. He had shown love, compassion, self-sacrifice for the greater good, a welcomed leader, a friend to the people, and a man with a kind heart. Naruto, you are the son of that man." Naruto's eyes widened greatly.

Many people in the audience glanced at one another trying to figure out who that was. If he was strong enough to make enemies cower, then he must've been famous, right? Some people were eventually putting two and two together, and became pale. Many shinobi and kunoichi were starting to wonder why they didn't see this before.

"Uzumaki Naruto. In the first exam, you showed that you never panicked, even faced with your worst subject. In the second exam, you showed great leadership skills, as well as the want to get things done quickly. You also showed that you were capable of making sure your comrades always kept up with you, and you listened to your friends when they had advice. In the Preliminaries, you showed that when provoked, you did not take the bait, and instead turned the bait on him, and took out the enemy as fast as possible by exploiting their weakness and tearing through it with pure strength. In the Third exam, you showed that you had cunning, trickery, and the ability to provoke your enemies with ease. In the second round, you showed that you know when you have to rely on your partner, and you even brought a new technique that was never seen before. In the third rounds, you showed a great knowledge of Fuinjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu. You showed that you have fast thinking, and the ability to stay calm in high stake situations. By the count of 6 votes and my approval, you, **Namikaze** Naruto, are hereby promoted to Chuunin!" Everyone was stunned. Sure some suspected it, but to have it confirmed by the hokage himself just made it seem surreal.

The boy they loved to hate. The THING they had all detested was the son of the greatest Hokage that Konoha had ever had.

The entire stadium was a stunned silent, as Kurenai handed the chuunin jacket down to her student. The boy grinned, and accepted the jacket. He took hit on overcoat off, put the chuunin jacket on, and then put the overcoat back on.

A fast clap sounded as the fire Daimyo stood up, and cheered for Naruto. "Go Naruto!" The Daimyo shouted. Soon, some of the people in the audience started clapping as well, and after a few minutes, the entire audience stood and clapped for the boy. The boy had a grin on his face that you couldn't wipe off with a katana.

Sasuke standing next to Naruto just sneered at him. _'So what? The dobe is still just a dobe. Names don't mean anything!'_ He just stood their silently, waiting for the chuunin promotion that he's sure to be handed to him.

Sakura just blew a raspberry. "If a dobe like Naruto can get a promotion, then Sasuke can too! Sasuke is dreamy, and the best Ninja out there in that line!"

Ino on the other hand, started to question her belief in just about everything she's done up to then.

Sarutobi nodded to Naruto, and moved on to the next contestant. "Uchiha Sasuke." Sarutobi started, but stopped as he read the file again, and again, and a third time to make sure. He blinked, and looked up once at him. "In the first exam, you were never caught. In the second exam, you ignored your teammates at all times, and just went on your own, expecting your teammates to follow. You never looked after your teammates, and showed arrogance at every turn. In the Preliminaries, you fought to show off, and when you used your doujutsu, you didn't use it when it would be the most efficient and gloated when you could. You were also easily trapped when your attention was on something else. In the third exam, you showed arrogance once more, and once more showed inefficiency by using you jutsu when it wasn't the most efficient. You highly underestimated your opponent, and even used a loud assassination technique in the wrong situation. You received 2 votes," _'Both of which were the 'advisors'._' " and did not receive my approval. You are staying a genin." Sarutobi moved to go on. Sasuke, however, was furious. He was an 'elite' an Uchiha! He deserved that promotion more then anyone else! (You can't spell Uchiha Sasuke without Hypocrite!)

Sarutobi stood in front of the last contestant. He looked over the file. "Sabaku no Gaara. In the first exam, you showed very good stealth when you needed it. In the second exam, you showed instability and no care for human life, but you lead your team well and kept them in line. In the Preliminaries, you showed that you will never panic in any situation, and prevail no matter what. In the third exam, you once again showed instability, and disregard for human life. You received no votes, and did not get my approval. You will not get our recommendation to your council." Gaara nodded. After the recognition that his 'brother in sacrifice' got, he could understand. This showed him once more, that fighting for others was stronger then fighting for one's self.

The Hokage moved off to the side. "Will the newly appointed chuunin move forward, and bow once more for the audience?" The Audience applauded as the chuunin bowed. After they did so, he motioned the chuunin to him. He spoke in a low tone. "Temari, you will meet me in my office tomorrow at 10 A.M. for you recommendation scroll, bring your brothers and pack your bags. You'll be leaving tomorrow. The rest of you, come to my office in three days at 10 A.M. for a list of your duties and your swearing in as official leaders. Dismissed." They nodded. "Naruto stay here." The others left out the exam door. "Just stand by me." He said to Naruto, and the fox-boy nodded. "Will The two Tokubetsu Chuunin step forward and bow?" They repeated the process as the audience cheered for them. Sarutobi motioned the boys over to him. "Meet me in my office in four days at 10 A.M. for your list of duties, and what is to be expected of you for a full promotion. Dismissed." They nodded, and left as well. He motion the last of the genin to come to him. Once they neared him, he spoke. "Meet me in my office in two days at 10 A.M. for team reassignments. Gaara, you will meet me tomorrow in my office at 10 A.M., bring your brother with you. You'll be leaving town tomorrow." They all nodded. "Dismissed." And the genin left. Sarutobi turned o the audience. "I thank all of you for coming to the Konohagakure Chuunin exams! I hope you all had a great time, and I wish to see all of you in the future!" He bowed to the audience, and the audience took that as the chuunin exams were over. Sarutobi turned to Naruto. "Naruto meet me tomorrow at 11 A.M. on top of the hokage monument." Naruto nodded, and left.

He had a lot to think about. Especially now that he knew a little bit more about his parents. Along his way home, he missed the confused stares, and the steeled glances in his direction. When he reached his apartment, he took one glance at it, and then at his father's face on the hokage mountain. He decided to see how good ol' dad was doing. He smirked, and dashed across town.

A few minutes later, we find our hero sitting on top of the fourth's head, just watching the sun set. He just wanted to relax. He felt a weight on his shoulder that belonged to only one.

Nelrim's deep voice rang out. "I see you've been promoted. Congratz, kid. You earned it. Through all the blood, tears, and sweat, you worked harder then any other these past few years. I look forward to seeing how you'll take your next step." With that, Nelrim left.

Kina popped into Naruto's lap, and she stared straight up at him. "Nelrim's right, kid. Congratz. You're just one year out of the academy, and you've already made the push for the next step into your future. Relax today and tomorrow. You've earned it." with that, Kina laid down in his lap, and watched the sunset with him.

To be continued...

–

A/N: PHEW! This chapter is DONE! FINALLY! This is version number FIVE! FIVE! I redid this chapter FIVE F***ing times, and you want to know something? I'm damn proud of this chapter. It might not've been the best chapter I had, but it was probably one of the hardest for me, for multiple reasons. Not only did I have a major case of writer's block, but I also had a hard time coming up with an introduction to my OC.

Read, review, worship the log, tell me how I did, bow to the log, and have a fun day!

Poll results are on my profile. Please see it. If you refuse, I'll be posting results on my next chapter anyways.

No Omake this time. Too troublesome.

Ja ne~

~Snipa


	19. Chapter 19: One Long Night

Disclamer: If I actually owned Naruto, he would be a badass in the cannon. The Ocs I do own ARE badass.

Vote poll: Here are the results

Jiraiya drags Naruto around for three years, and we time skip: 24 votes

Jiraiya drags Naruto for three years and we see what happens: 13 votes

Jiraiya leaves Naruto for three years, and Naruto trains during that time, and we skip to the end: 20 votes

Choice one wins! Wow, 57 people voted. I'm glad you guys actually took the time to help decide the future of this fanfic... Though, not in the way you guys believe it's going to go! -evil laugh here-

Anyways, this chapter is mostly plot development, no fight scenes. Now that Oro-pedo-maru is gone, we have one less major villain, and the Akatsuki aren't moving for several years. Now I have to think of something to make up for that. I could go and sick Iwa on hi-

Yosome: _You have me._

Snipa Silver Eye(Looking horrified at her): I wouldn't wish you on the gay pedophile! Why would I sick you on my bad ass Naruto?

Yosome(Looking innocent and hurt at the same time): _I'm hurt. How could you say something like that?_

Snipa(Deadpanned): Because you would mind rape Oro-gay-maru until he was nothing but a sniveling pile of tears, piss, puke, blood, and gore?

Yosome(Nodding): True... So what am I doing in this story anyways? I thought you were never putting me in any story of yours, and Oro-homo-maru is already dead. Are you going to sick me on Madara?

Snipa: Nah, I decided to let you out of the closest, and let you run rampant in the Naruto world. You're to befriend Narut-

Yosome: _No._

Snipa: Are you sure?

Yosome: _You're the only one who knows what I represent. But I do love the thought of the whole 'run rampant' part. _(giggles innocently, and runs off through the portal into the Naruverse)

Snipa(paling): Oh god, what have I done?

Now on to the fic...

–

Chapter 19: One Long Night

Naruto's eyes slowly opened as he came back to reality. He checked his body, and it screamed sore. He sat up, and checked where he was. He sighed. He had accidentally fallen asleep on top of the hokage mountain. Specifically the fourth's head. Naruto looked at the sun, which was just over the horizon. It was under an hour until he had to meet the old man at this exact spot. He debated whether or not to just wait for him, or run and get a bowl of ramen.

His choice was made for him when he heard the old man come up behind him. "Oh, Naruto-kun." The old man said as he walked up. "I didn't think you'd be here so soon."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I didn't either."

The old man looked confused until he saw the state of his clothes. "Fell asleep up here, eh?" He chuckled at the embarrassed look on the kids face.

"So what did you want to talk to me about, Oji-san?" He asked.

The old man waved away his ANBU escort. When he no longer felt their presence he focused his attention on Naruto. "I want you to follow me. We're going somewhere special." Naruto nodded, and got up to follow him, but then noticed Kina silently sleeping in his lap. He chuckled at that, and picked her up smoothly and slowly. When he was she she was comfortable, he got up the rest of the way, and moved to catch up to the old man. He caught a glimpse of a figure standing on the first Hokage's head, but didn't think too much about it. "Do you know how big this mountain is, Naruto-kun?" He asked from over his shoulder.

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders.

"This mountain actually holds the homes of every Hokage. From the first to the fourth." He said.

"So why don't you live up here then, Oji-san?"

The old man's eyes glazed over, but Naruto couldn't see that. "A long story, for another time." Was all the man said. "Now, I must tell you something before we go any further." He said, as he suddenly stopped. "From this point onward is a national secret forbidden to be talked about. You have been good at keeping secrets, but I must warn you how big of a secret this is. If you tell this to anyone, we will find you, and torture you to find out who. Then we'll find that person, and torture him until he tells who he told, and like a chain continue until we've caught, and killed every one of them. Do you understand how big of a secret this is now?" He asked as he looked the boy in the eyes and flared his own killer intent to get the point across.

Naruto nodded though a bit paler.

"I must hear your voice, Naruto." He said sternly.

"I understand, Hokage-sama."

The old man released the gaze and let his killer intent settle. "Good. Now follow me." He turned and took a step off of the path down the hokage mountain. What surprised Naruto was that the man disappeared. Naruto took a small step forward, and then put his hand forward. He hand disappeared and felt fuzzy as it just barely passed the tree line. He suddenly felt the old man's hand grab his, and pulled him through.

When Naruto reopened his eyes, he just saw the old man standing in a small cave. He looked behind him, and sure enough it was the path to the top and bottom of the hokage mountain. He looked over the cave, and saw many MANY thousands of seals and symbols splattered all over the cave. He noticed that some were meant to seal something, yet others we're to create a dome of chakra, still more to hold up a genjutsu. Then he saw some symbols he's never seen before.

The old man watched as Naruto identified some symbols, and then looked confused at what other symbols did. Then he noticed advanced seals only the fourth knew, and could decrypt. He decided to interrupt the boy before he got pulled into the inner workings of the seals. "Naruto-kun. As you know, there are many things that seals can do. From storing your weapons in a simple seal, to holding the kyuubi's soul in your stomach, to distorting the very fabric of time and space between the two offices of the Hokage in the tower and in the forest of death, to gathering, and focusing gravity in a downwards motion on your body. Let's add to that list of things, shall we?" The hokage said, as he flared a tiny amount of chakra, and placed his hand on the central seal on the wall behind him. A bright flash of light burned Naruto's eyes, he had to close them, and cover his eyes out of reflex. When he felt that the light had gone away, he slowly let his arms down, and opened his eyes carefully. He blinked once, and then again as he looked around him in amazement.

The fourth had a big smile on his face as he watched Naruto in the hidden valley of the Hokages for the first time.

Naruto was AMAZED! From what he could tell of the seals on the wall, they were to be transported somewhere. How big that 'where' was, Naruto had no clue. That is, until he saw this.

The light here seem distorted somewhat, but it was just as bright as the sun outside. There were trees in every direction he looked, and the trees were all fully bloomed cherry blossoms. Pink petals floated in the air around the space, and the grass looked healthy and green. That's when Naruto noticed the three mansion like houses off in the distance. They weren't huge, but they weren't small either. He noticed that all three had concrete fences surrounding them, and a prestige looking metal gate for each one. Then a question popped into Naruto's head. "Jiji, why are there only three houses. I thought there would be four."

"The first and the second Hokage's shared their house, which is the one in the middle. Mine is on the left, and your fathers," he pointed at the last house, "Is the one on the right." He lowered his arm as he looked at his house with sad eyes, but he quickly turned back to Naruto. "As the son of Namikaze Minato, you are allowed to live in the house he once lived in. Once you marry, you're also allowed to bring your spouse into it as well, but not before. If you have kids... well, we'll get to that once you're old enough." He turned and started walking to the house, and Naruto quickly followed. "Inside, I think you'll find everything he left for you." He walked right up to the gate and stopped. On the gate, Naruto noticed an intricate seal right where the locking mechanism usually is. "Naruto, do you think you could unseal this house for me? It's a blood seal."

Naruto nodded, and bit the skin on his thumb. He channeled chakra to his thumb as he smeared the blood on the seal on the gate. The seal glowed blue for a moment, and then a 'click' sound rang from it. Sarutobi slowly put his hand on the gate, and opened it. He motioned Naruto in. "After you, Naruto-kun." Naruto slowly walked into the front yard of his father's home. Once he was in, he heard a 'click' as the gate sealed itself once more behind Sarutobi. "Come, we'll talk more once we've found a comfortable place to sit. In the meantime, why don't you create an army of shadow clones to explore the house. I'm sure you want to explore every nook and cranny." Sarutobi opened the front door, as it wasn't locked, and motioned Naruto in. Once inside, Naruto smiled and did just that. An army of 30 shadow clones fazed into existence behind him, and they each rushed off to explore. In the main hallway, he saw that the house broke off into three directions, left right, and forward. The old man moved forward, and Naruto followed. The forward one moved into a living room of sorts. It had three two man couches, and two very relaxing lean back chairs near a fire place. The old man moved towards the fireplace, and sat down at one, motioning Naruto to sit in the other. "Now, I know you have some questions, Naruto-kun, but let's start off with this." The old man held out a scroll. "It's from your father to you, and I don't know what is inside."

Naruto carefully took the scroll, and opened it slowly.

_Dear Naruto, my son,_

_If you're reading this, then you've become a competent chuunin, and as such, responsible. I know this may've seemed hard to understand, but you couldn't know about me until you had the power to back up this knowledge. I hope Kushina-chan is there to read it with you, and that she's been a welcoming mother to you, Naruto. I regret, that if you're reading this, I'm no longer of this world, and that Kina has been sealed inside of you. If I know Kina, then she's also reading this as well, either through you, or through being summoned outside of the seal. I hope the town has been treating you like a hero, like I asked them, too._

_If you're reading this, then that also means you are in the Hokage's valley, and in my house to be exact. In my office, which will be hard to miss, are several paintings. Behind each painting is a special something to you. The order of the release is 6524317. Please memorize that so you can repeat it forwards and backwards._

_I hope you can forgive your fool of a father for leaving you behind, and know that I loved you both more then all the stars in the sky._

_Signed,_

_The fourth Hokage_

_Minato Namikaze_

_P.S. – If you see Jiraiya, kick him in the balls for me and your mother._

Naruto slowly closed the scroll. He was numb at this point. From being shown something amazing, to seeing the house he should've grown up in, to reading this letter. His emotions and mind were fried at this point, and he had to drop his mask so as to not overload. "Jiji, I..." He couldn't trust his own voice now.

"Shh, Naruto-kun. I know this is a lot to start with. If you want, I'll leave you here. I'll be in my home, and the gate unsealed when you want to leave." Naruto nodded at that. He needed time to figure out what he wanted to feel, and what to do with this knowledge. The Third Hokage got up slowly, and walked towards the door, he stopped before he opened it though. He looked to where Naruto was sitting, and then headed out the door.

–

The first thing I did when I entered the village yesterday, was to search out to see what had changed. I mean, the last time I was here was 20 years ago, and Kakashi was the 'village prodigy.' The three sannin were still a great team, and Sarutobi was ruling the village with an iron fist. He was a kind, but strong leader. I quickly noticed that a fourth head was up on the mountain wall, exactly as written in my book. That much hadn't changed. Not that it would. The only thing that can change things in my books can be either extreme forces of nature, the elements themselves, or a person with extreme resolve and will. Today, after reading a fair bit from the people around me, I realized that a force of extreme nature HAD come to the village shortly after the fourth Hokage was given the position, and that changed the story line in my book altogether. I couldn't wait to get my grubby little 9 year-old hands on the self-righteous blundering idiot that changed my story. Madara and his gang were going to pay. Dearly.

Right now, I was standing on top of the first's head of the Hokage mountain. He was not the first one to change my precious writing in this world, and he wasn't the last, nor will they ever stop. I still held a grudge against them all, but the first Hokage had peeved me off the most. Too bad he's long in death's hand, and I have no territory there. I lifted up my pale white right hand, and waved it in front of me. Three feet from me a book appeared in a white light to my left, moved to the front of me, and then over to the side, disappearing in a white light on my right. This happened so fast, that normal humans couldn't see anything but a blur, and happened several thousand times in less then 10 seconds. It slowed down after the tenth second, and soon three books were sitting still in front of me. I waved my hand at the right one, and it came towards me, and sat in the air before me. The other two disappeared in a flash of light.

The title of the book was in Latin letters reading _Terra IV_ or Earth version 4, which was the planet I was currently on. The book, like all my other ones, was a big metal and leather bound book with special lunar and solar designs on the front. It looked to be a foot long, half a foot wide, and about 4 inches thick. I flicked my finger at the book, and the book opened up to the middle. I licked my finger, and I quickly turned the pages back to the day that Kyuubi had gone berserk, which was not supposed to happen, and read what had happened since then, and noted the changes that had happened between then and now, and how they would change the things to come. I noticed how Kami and Yami, the goddess sisters of this dimension, had interfered not once, or twice, or even three times, but four full times in the time line. I noticed how Merlin changed destiny as well. I noticed how Orochimaru had been killed off completely, when he was just supposed to run away when things got bad with Tsunade, who wasn't even in the village. I noticed how the Uchiha clan had four members left, when the entire clan was supposed to be killed off that night. I noticed that many people died, when they weren't supposed to. I noticed that many people lived, when the only thing they should be is dust.

It all spiraled around one man. Madara. He had crossed the line on so many occasions, that he was going crazy with power.

It's official. Madara is my new favorite guy to hate and loathe. Not even the first Hokage had done this much. And since he's still alive when he should've died a long time ago...

I snapped my fingers, and a notepad and a pen dropped into my open hands. If people kept trying to change my story to constantly look for peace, then I'll give them peace. Whether that be good or bad, is up to them, and one VERY strong willed individual.

–

A few hours, and several times rereading the scroll later, Naruto slowly got up, and moved towards the office which was in the right hallway from the entrance. His clones had long ago dispelled, so he knew where everything was. The left hallway was actually a stair case to move up to the second and third floor, as well as leading straight to the kitchen area. The right hallway lead to a dojo, an office, and a basement. There was a bathroom on each floor, but the only one to not have a bath and shower was on the first floor. The second floor contained three separate bedrooms that were moderate in size.

On the rest of the first floor were several empty rooms that looked like they were still being built in either hallway. Going pass the initial living room, there was a large library, containing anything from normal fictional books, to jutsu of all kinds of ranks and elements, to research and knowledge theory of chakra, and finally advanced and master level theories of sealing.

Naruto opened the door to his father's office. It wasn't very big, but it wasn't small either. The room contained three very large desks, each holding several piles of papers and open books. Two of the walls were lined with bookshelves filled with books on many different things and sealing utensils. On the two remaining walls were 7 paintings. Each of the paintings seemed to be of someone important. The paintings were very large, taller then him in height, and he would have trouble touching both sides of the frames.

The first on the right, was Jiji in his prime. It had the initials "NM" in the bottom corner.

The next one was the First and Second Hokage's standing side by side in their Hokage robes. It had the initials "HS" in the bottom corner.

The next one to that was of Jiraiya though just a bit younger. It had the initials "NM" in the bottom corner.

The next one was of Orochimaru. The man that Naruto grew up knowing looked a bit more insane then the one he was looking at now. It looked like that of an intelligent man who was completely loyal to his friends, if a bit hardened. He even had a glorified smile, not a creepy one, but a true happy smile. Naruto wondered how the man he saw here, and the one he saw being crucified at the chuunin exams were so different. The initials on this one was "HS" in the bottom corner.

After that, was of a woman he had never seen before. She had blond hair, and brown eyes. She wore a green robe, and grey kimono underneath it. On her forehead was a violet diamond shaped seal. That was all he could see of her from this painting, but it would be pretty hard to miss a woman with a bust of that size. Under the painting the words "Konoha no Namekuji Tsunade-hime"_(Konoha's slug princess__, Tsunade)_ This one, as well, had the intials "NM" in the bottom corner.

The second to the left was of his father standing in the dojo in his workout clothes, which was just a white robe with very loose leggings. This one had the initials "UK" in the corner.

The last one was the only one without a label or a name on it was of a woman. It showed the full length of her body. Her dark red hair went down to her knees in a smooth flowing fashion. She had a sword down to her side, but half of the sword was cut off by the frame. She had a smooth smile on her face, as if encouraging whoever was brave enough to attack her. Her violet eyes had a glint to them, but the person trying to paint the picture couldn't quite decide on what that glint meant. But one thing above all else was her feminine figure that was admirably beautiful. So-much-so that she put every other girl in the village down. She stood tall and proud. Somehow, he knew this woman, but he couldn't tell from where.

He moved to that painting first, and memorized her. He didn't know who she was exactly, but he felt she was very important to him. He touched the frame on the right side, and nudged it a little. It didn't budge. Raising his eyebrow, he moved to the other side of the painting, and nudged it there. He felt the painting move a little, and then he pulled on it. The painting swung to the right, leaving a very intricate seal behind it on the wall. He studied it before he did anything else. His dad wasn't known for a seal master for nothing.

He noticed that it was a standard storage seal, but beyond that he couldn't read it. Shrugging, he bit his thumb, and focused chakra into it as he wiped the blood on the seal. The blood burned off of the wall, and nothing else happened. Naruto was puzzled. He looked down at the scroll again, and then reread the passage. He moved over to his father's painting, and found that it could be moved the same as the first one. _'6524317' _Behind it was a slightly different seal.

The seal first started out like the last one, a blood released storage seal, but after that was a secondary unlocking mechanism. He moved back to the red-head's, and then looked closer at the seal. His dad was clever. Under the blood storage seal, he could make out a much smaller seal hidden in the intricate design. He presumed that was the locking mechanism as well.

Naruto went back to his father's painting, and reopened the wound on his thumb. He pored chakra into it as he wiped the blood on the seal. This time it had a definite reaction as he head a 'poof' sound, and a scroll dropped into his hands. He heard a click, and looked back up to the seal. The secondary release seal had changed shape, and was now in the 'open' position. He moved over to the two Hokage's painting. He repeated the process, and 5 paintings later he was standing in front of his mother's seal one last time. And boy was he stumped. The other 6 released in the exact order, and they all released their contents without much problem. However, when he put his blood on this last one, it just burned it off like last time.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He was determined to release this one. He went back to his father's and saw something strange in the 'locking' seal. A button if you would. He put his thumb there, and he heard a sound from all the other ones. All of the seals went right back into 'locked' position.

He retried it several times, unlocking all of the seals by place blood on them, only to lock again when he pushed one of the buttons on the six seals. He had done this for a few hours straight, and now he was sure he was going to get a scar on his thumb.

He grumbled, and went back to the last one. He glared at the small locking seal in his mother's painting, trying to figure out how it worked. He noticed that some of the designs were slightly misaligned. They wouldn't harm the seal itself, it was just considered unprofessional to be slightly off. So why was his mother's so different?

He sat down and pondered, looking over the scroll in his hand, the scrolls on one of the desks nearby, and then at the paintings. He looked out the windows, and saw that the sun was already setting. He must've spent more time here then he thought. He shrugged at that. It wasn't the first all nighter he's ever pulled, and he'll be damned if he doesn't figure out this mystery. It was going to be a long night.

–

Hinata sat still in the Hyuuga meeting room with her younger sister sitting by her. They were currently in the middle of a Hyuuga clan meeting. They were deciding her future, and had all but forgotten that she was even there.

It made her feel small.

She lifted up her head, "Excuse me."

The arguing between three sides of the elders continued. Her father noticed her trying to say something, and they just ignored her.

Now, many people think that because of the stoic nature that Hiashi gives off 24/7 means that he's a cold-hearted bastard. That's simply not true. He was a cold-hearted father. There's a difference. He cleared his throat loudly, and flared his killer intent.

The room was dead silent, and all eyes were on him.

He looked back to his daughter, and nodded his head.

She thanked her father silently, and looked back at the elders. "Excuse me." She said, and they all looked to her. "Do I get any say in this? I mean, it's my future you know."

The just stayed silent.

She took that as a sign to go on. "Yes, I'm a jinchuuriki. Yes, I've turned into a hanyou. And Yes, I have fallen in love with someone outside of the clan. And you're bringing this up, why? I mean, yes, I will eventually take the head of the clan, but does any of this have to do with that?"

One of the oldest elders smiled at her, though no one else saw it, but her. "She has a point." He face went stoic as people looked at him. "You brought this meeting up, Hisaki-san. What does any of this matter?"

Hisaki, one of the 'younger' elders made a grunting sound and glared at Hinata. "We are a prestigious clan, and a clan head cannot be scene with any garbage. Further more, what will the public think if we put a demon at the head of our clan? Besides, you're just a weakling compared to your younger sister."

Hinata glared back. If she was still the 'weak stalker' that she was just 6 months ago, then she would've been cowering right now. But after talking with Hiraku for a while, she understood that she couldn't be weak and with Naruto. No she needed to be strong, and now was a time to be strong. "Elder Hisaki. Let me remind you that not only did I get into the finals of the chuunin exam, I did it in my first year as a kunoichi, correct?" She didn't get an answer, but she continued. "Also, it appears you didn't get the news. Naruto is the son of the fourth Hokage. Lastly, why does being a Jinchuuriki a bad thing? Hiraku-chan has been in the clan for two generations now, and you haven't had a problem, have you?"

Hisaki just continued to glare at her. "So what, the entire contest was filled with weaklings. And even if Naruto is the son of that man? Trash is still trash. On your Jinchuuriki account. How can we be sure that Hiraku wont escape and kill us all?"

Hinata just raised an eyebrow. "You claim that names mean everything for our clan, yet when the son of the most famous Hokage ever finally shows up, you treat him like trash?"

"She has a point." Hiashi stated. "Why do we care what the village thinks? If we're prestigious, then why should their opinions matter?" He smirked. They were backing the man into a political corner. "Furthermore, if Hiraku-sama wanted to kill us all, she would've done so by now. She is the shinigami's pet. No, I believe we can trust her. And I believe that if the entire exam was filled with trash, then does that mean Neji is too? I mean, you've been calling him a prodigy for a while now, and then he was suddenly taken out of the exams altogether. Surely pure trash could not take out a true prodigy. And furthermore, the one who beat Neji in the chuunin exams was beaten by Namikaze-san. So I highly doubt that 'demon,' as you call him, is trash. More like a prodigy himself. And recently, I've been thinking that we need to bring new blood into the Hyuuga main blood line. What's a more perfect candidate then a prodigy, am I correct?"

Hisaki hadn't flinched, or made a move that he knew he was in trouble, but a line of cold sweat was glistening on his brow. "What about Uchiha-san? He could make a good spouse for Hinata-sama."

Hiashi remained stoic. "Did you also forget that Namikaze-san beat the Uchiha? In quite a stunning performance, might I add." Her daughter was finally standing up to the elders. If he wanted to show her that, that was a good thing, then he must encourage her by helping her when she does stand up. "What do you think, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata nodded, inside her head, she was dancing for joy that her father was helping her out, "Yes, I do believe it was fascinating how he took the Uchiha apart bit-by-bit. He even took the Uchiha's best attack, and didn't even flinch."

Hanabi was staring at Hinata. Who was this girl, and where was her sister?

Hiashi brought his hand up to his chin, and made a thinking pose. "Hmm, I want to think on this matter some more. Elder's you're dismissed. Hinata, stay here."

Once all the elder's and Hanabi left, Hiashi looked towards his daughter. She opened her mouth, "What is it, Otou-sama?"

He smiled at her. "About time you stood up to them, Hinata-chan." He started.

Hinata mearly smiled, and blushed at the compliment. Her father actually praised her!

"What do you think of Namikaze-san?" He continued.

Hinata sighed. It was going to be a long night, and Hiraku was asleep at the moment. She was no help here.

–

Sarutobi sat down at the table in the kitchen of his home. _'Home.'_ he repeated in his mind. _'I haven't called it that in almost 14 years.'_ He sighed as he sat back in the wooden chair, and looked around slowly. He grumbled under his breath. He needed to be back at the Hokage tower tomorrow morning. He sighed, "Might as well try to get some sleep." He said to himself, and then got up, and moved towards one of the main hallways. He avoided the main bedroom altogether, and went to one of the guest bedrooms instead. As he passed by the doors to the master bedroom, he took a look at the wood that boarded the doors to said room. The seals on the boards painted in blood by hurried hands the most prominent feature. He nodded to himself, and then opened the door to the guest room. It was going to be a long restless night.

–

Ino was a bit down when she came into the house that night. Inoichi could've sworn it was due to the chuunin exams, but when he had asked about it, his daughter outright denied it, and since he could read her like a book, he knew she was telling the truth. He shrugged, and chalked it up to 'boy trouble' since that seemed to be only explanation his mind could come up with. He sighed, and took another big gulp out of his beer bottle. He probably should ask his wife to talk to his little princess.

Shikaku, Shikamaru's father, sitting next to him at the bar tapped his shoulder, "Something wrong?" He asked, as he took a good long sip of lemonade. The bar keep had forbidden the man any alchohol after what happened LAST time.

Inoichi sighed, "Yeah, my daughter. I think it's boy trouble, but I'm not sure." He shrugged, "But I'm not here to drink about my daughter having problems. We're here because we're celebrating your sons to getting promoted to chuunin!" He said as he held up his drink. Chouza, Chouji's father, raised his drink as well as Shika's. The glasses clinked, and all took a good long drink of their respective glasses.

The three slammed their drinks into the table at the same time, and the three men chuckled at their old ritual. It was a good night to be alive.

–

Prisoner of War. Great. _'I just had to fucking end up in this fucking godforsaken weak ass village's piss version of a jail.'_ Tayuya thought to herself. She didn't even know when she was captured. The last thing she remembered was tying on the last of her uniform, and then it just went black. She could hear the dozens and dozens of other captured sound soldiers moaning, and screaming just down the hall from her. The door to her cell clinked, and then opened inwards. A tall man with a bandana walked through, and looked down at her. His smile creeping her the fuck out. "What the fuck are you looking at, piss-ant Moron?"

His smile grew. "A member of my next 'study' session." He simply replied.

Tayuya's eyes widened. It was going to be a long night. Still, she wasn't going down without a fight. "You weak ass mother fuckers don't scare me with your tiny dicks in your big fucking mouths!"

Ibiki's smile grew wider still. "Good. I love a fighter. When they break, they do so in such a beautiful way." It was going to be a long FUN night.

–

Inuzuka Tsume was many things. A leader, a mother, a jounin, a Togatta representative, a patient woman, and most of all clean. With a nose as sensitive as hers, you tend to want to sleep at night with good smells, and she had worked hard to pound that into her daughter and son. Apparently, not hard enough for her son, and if there's one thing Tsume was not, it was merciful. Kiba was going through a cleaning ritual. Her poor, poor son was going to have permanently pruned fingers after he had washed the entire clan's and the Aburame clan's laundry by himself. For three months.

Ah, who was she kidding? She was enjoying every minute of this, as the blackmail material kept piling up. She was snapping photos of him washing the girl's underwear at the moment. She chuckled to herself quietly, as she petted both Kuromaru and Akamaru who were side by her sides. They had just gotten a very nice long bath. He was in for some long nights.

–

Sasuke was at his training grounds in the Uchiha district. He was sweating profusely, and the sole object of his attention was not the poor battered log in front of him. No, it was that damned dobe. He had taken the spot light away from him, and all the attention he was getting was almost suddenly snuffed out. He took a good long glare at the log in front of him, and imagined that it was Naruto. He screamed at the top of his lungs, and continued to batter his already broken and bloody knuckles into it. He grounded it as his mind fell further into the darkness. Halfway through an extremely painful combo, he stopped and lurched down onto the ground. He was in pain again. _'Will these infernal pain spasms ever come to an end!' _He asked in his mind. It had started up just hours ago. He could've sworn something answered him, but he didn't hear what it said, as he keeled over again. On his left shoulder near his neck, a sinister looking cursed seal pulsed with life once more.

He could feel power coursing through his veins.

He looked up to the log. It was still standing. He smirked. Not for long.

–

Neji stared at the paper in his hand. It was from his Father. He had woken up in the hospital just an hour ago, and saw the envelope that held the letter. He opened it slowly, and then read every word. How many times has he read it now? 10 times? 20 times? He didn't know, and he didn't care.

The words of the letter is what made him reread it so many times.

He let his hands fall limp, the letter falling slowly into his lap.

"Was there never really such a thing as destiny and fate? Do we really make our own futures?" He asked the ceiling as he laid back on the hospital bed.

He had taken a look at his legs using Byakugan. They were a mess. He didn't know if he would ever be a ninja again. He hadn't bothered to call for the nurse, as it was about 3 in the morning by now. He could wait, and see what the doctors said when they came to check on him, but he had a feeling he already knew what they'd say.

He couldn't sleep. He just stared out the window. The long night was almost over.

–

_'Long night indeed.'_ I thought to myself as my pen disappeared from my hand, and I sighed. I smiled at the now closed book. "_Everything that was, it shall be. Everything that is, shall disappear and be created. Everything that can be, it will all come to the same end. I wonder,"_ I said to no one around me, "_which path shall be chosen?"_

I looked up at the moon to the high west and at the horizon to the east, the sun was just barely rising. _"Hehehe, it's almost time for me to to become a character in this story. Now, what role shall I pick? Shall I go as a nobody, watch from afar, and become Yosome once again? Shall I chose a different path this time, and directly involve myself in the workings of this world? Shall I become the very evil this book will dictate? Or shall I illuminate a path for the chosen one? Choices."_ I looked back down at the book floating before me. _"There is always that path. I have always had the ability to do so, and I've never done it yet."_ I frown as I remember the rules that would follow me on this path. _"Might as well. This is a good time as any to try it out."_ I flick my hand at the book again, and it disappeared in a black hole.

The rules have been set, the game has started. _"Let's find out how this world will end, and the next one begin anew, shall we?"_ I asked as I looked out to all of you, the readers.

–

Sorry it's so short, but I couldn't think of anything else to add for this chapter.

… Oh well, That's it for now. Catch ya next time.

~Snipa


	20. Chapter 20: Will Power

Disclamer: If I owned Naruto, bad things would happen. As such, I don't own it.

Heya, peeps. Time for another installment of "The Silver Flash."

This review just made me laugh so hard.

NARUHAREM FOREVA: "you know...that last part...was LITTLE creepy, and i find my self doubting that it was all good and fun for the story, and more believing of the fact that you might be a homicidal killer o.O"

The sad part is... Yosome really is like that... and she IS a piece of my personality.

This is my 20th chapter so far, and I have to say, it's been really fun to write these chapters out.

As such, I wanted to make this one EXTRA long... let's see if I can do it.

Now on to the fic...

–

Chapter 20: Will Power

Neji's PoV

Neji sat in his hospital bed. The sun had risen just half an hour ago, so it's probably around 6:30 in the morning. His head had been blank of thoughts after he had read the letter to him one last time, and he was now waiting for the nurses to come and tell him that he wouldn't be a ninja anymore.

He couldn't decide if the letter in his hand was wrong, and that fate really existed, or that the battle him and Gaara really was what it appeared to be, just a coincidence, and that fate didn't exist at all.

Neji turned his head as he saw the door to his room open. A nurse walked in with a clipboard. She walked over to the machines he was connected up to, wrote something down, and was about to leave when she glanced at him. She smiled, "Oh, You're up! Welcome back to the land of the living, Hyuuga-san."

Neji just stayed silent as he watched her. He blinked once as what she said registered to him. He shook his head, and then asked, "How long have I been out?"

She checked her chart. "You've been out for almost a month since your battle with the sand-nin."

He looked back down at his legs. He was almost too scared to ask. Almost. "Am I... How... Will I ever be a Shinobi again?" asked as he looked back up to her. He saw her frown, and that confirmed his worries. He looked back down again.

"We don't know." She lied. He could tell. "Your legs are pretty banged up, and we aren't sure if it will heal right." A half truth. His legs were banged up, but they knew the truth, he knew the truth, it was only a social barrier that kept him from breaking down now.

He decided to break it, and get it over with. "So, I will never be a Shinobi again, will I?" He asked her as he looked back up. He frowned when he realized that she was just staring at him. He waved his hand in front of her face, but she didn't register it.

A girl giggled. _"Don't worry, Hyuuga-kun. I just froze time for a moment."_ She said said, as he whipped his head to look at me floating on the other side of the bed. Well, more like sitting on top of a book that was floating next to him. She let her legs dangle over the edge.

"W-who are you?"

"_Who I am, is of no importance. What is important is that you answer my question truthfully."_ She answered.

A look of confusion spread across his face.

She chuckled, and that made him paler. _"Do you wish to know what you were truly destined and fated to do in the chuunin exams?"_

She watched him with a smile as he fought himself. A part of him wanted to know, another part wanted to forget it. He decided on his answer. "Yes." It was simple, but he was half lying to himself.

"_Very well."_ She snapped my fingers, and the book under neath me moved out to hover over Neji, leaving her to sit right where she was in mid-air. The girl snapped my finger again, and the book opened up.

Neji closed his eyes, as a bright light consumed him. The source was the book.

–

Neji blinked. He was back at the preliminary exams. He was standing on the upper deck, and he watched just as Gaara told a poor Iwa-nin to forfeit while he covered him in sand. _'Iwa-nin?'_ He asked mentally. He looked back over to where the Hokage was standing. He mentally took a gasp.

It was the FOURTH HOKAGE! He was standing there as if nothing like the Kyuubi incident had ever happened.

"Oi, Obaa-chan!" Naruto's voice rang clear in the preliminaries. Neji looked over to him. He looked... normal. No fox ears, no fox tail. He was wearing clothes similar to the Hokage. The only difference was there was no vest. He had long blond hair that was spiky. "Call the next match already! I'm getting bored over here!"

That's when Neji realized he had no control over this body, as he walked over to Naruto, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, leave your godmother alone. She's got to look tough AND stay cool for these chuunin exams." Neji said with a smile.

"I know, I know. I'm just getting testy." Naruto said back at him.

Neji chuckled. "That's why you have friends like me who can keep you in line." Our Neji(Now refereed to as ON) mentally asked, _'Friend?'_

"Will the next two contestants come down please?" A woman with blond hair asked. She had a large chest as her most notable feature. Neji looked back up at the board and smiled.

"Well, looks like it's my turn." He jumped down onto the floor and readied for his opponent.

**Hyuuga Neji V. Tsuchi Kinoichi**

Neji smiled. "Let's have a fair match." He said, as he got into the advanced form of Jyuuken. _'It's that sound girl, but she has an Iwa headband!'_ ON mentally noted.

"Hajime!" The blond woman yelled out, and then jumped back.

Too say the least, it was a quick fight. He quickly deflected her earth pebble of doom jutsu, and ran up to her. He hit fifteen of her tenkestu, and then ran passed her. This all happened in the blink of an eye. Neji stood up from his stance, and smirked as he watched her fall to the ground stunned.

"Well, that was to be expected." The woman said. "Winner by knockout, Hyuuga Neji!"

ON's vision got blurry, and once again all he could see was a bright light.

When the light disappeared, he was standing in the middle of the Arena in the third exams. His opponent was Naruto!

"Namikaze Naruto v. Hyuuga Neji! Hajime!" The blond woman yelled as she hopped back.

"Let's have a fair fight, Neji!" Naruto said, as he quickly pulled some hands signs.

"With you? It's never a fair fight!" Neji said jokingly and smirked as he got into a strange stance. It was like the 64 palms attack stance, but more wound up then usual. "You are in my divination!" Neji yelled out. ON quickly registered that his body was too far away for the 64 palms attack. _"_Hakke Hyaku Nijūhachi Shō!"_(Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms)_

The divination around Neji was larger then usual, and Neji moved at an Unholy speed. Right when he was about to hit Naruto, a sliver flash erupted in his face. 127 strikes had been parried by Naruto's two ninja-to, and the last attack had been a full block. Neji could see himself in the blade's shiny surface.

ON was in shock. His headband was around his arm, and his forehead was completely clean! No seal whatsoever!

"Sorry, Neji! I'm not getting my chakra closed off today!" Naruto pushed with the blade that was in reverse grip in his left hand, effectively pushing Neji off-balance. Neji quickly regained his balance, but it was too late. Naruto was well inside his guard and a blade was coming up to his face. ON thought that he was done for. Neji smirked, and pushed chakra out of certain tenketsu. The blade stopped in mid-motion.

Naruto was surprised. "You didn't think I would go into this close quarters fight with you without a back-up plan, now did you?" He said, as he forced more chakra out, the blade that was stopped in a forward grip in Naruto's left hand was quickly blown away, and Neji shot for Naruto's Tenketsu in his center mass. Mostly around his lower chest, as those were non-lethal, but would take his breath away.

It was only then did ON notice something. Well, it was more like he noticed something missing. There was no seal on Naruto's stomach. The spiral that was usually there in Naruto was not there.

Naruto did what looked like it was impossible, as he leaned all the way back, and let his head touch the ground. Neji mentally cursed, as he felt a kick slam into his chin.

Neji tried to move his body. "Agh, what did you do to me?" he asked.

Naruto smirked. "Lightning chakra has many uses!"

Both Neji's quickly figured out what that meant. His nervous system was fried.

Naruto leaned over. "Now forfeit." He said as Neji felt a blade on his neck.

"Fine. I forfeit." Neji said, but he was still smiling. "You've gotten stronger, Naruto." He felt Naruto send a bit of lightning into his neck through the sword. After that, he placed both Ninja-tos back into their sheath's on his back.

Naruto smiled as the proctor proclaimed him the winner. "I couldn't get stronger without my best friend." He offered his hand, and Neji took it. As he was standing up, time seemed to slow down, and things got brighter and brighter, until our Neji was blind again.

–

When Neji opened his eyes once more, he looked around and sighed. He was back in his own controllable but badly injured body in the hospital once more.

"_Have fun?"_ The girl asked. She snapped her fingers, and the book closed, and then hovered under her once more.

He looked over to her, and several questions filled his head. Neji finally decided which to ask first, "Why was that world so different from this one?"

"_Firstly, that world does not exist. That world was only what was meant to happen."_ She stated. _"Secondly, while destiny can be determined, it can also be willed to change. Whether that be good or bad, depends on the one controlling a vast amount of will."_

He only grew more confused. "So destiny and fate really do exist?"

She nodded. _"Yes, they do."_

Neji looked down for a moment. "How much will does it take?"

"_It depends."_ She answered.

"On?" He asked.

"_Destiny? Or Fate?" She_ asked him.

"Fate first." He decided.

"_Fate. Fate, is easy to overcome. Fate controls your everyday action. What you will most likely do. What you will most likely say. What you will most likely see. Fate is only really something that likes to control what will most likely happen, and control everything down to the slightest nuance. Fate controls how the ants move. Fate controls how your body takes food. Fate controls how the Hokage will sign his next document. With a light pen touch, or sign it heavily and make nice long feathers. It is very easy to overcome fate, dear Neji. One just has to think outside the box."_ She smiled at him when she said this.

"And destiny?"

"_A lot." _The girl started. _"But I can give you examples of how much."_ He leaned forward eager to hear this. _"This first person to ever exceed destiny's control in this world was actually not one, but two. Uno and Dos. Uno wanted to become immortal, while Dos wanted to become the most powerful. They did horrible and wicked things to achieve this. They never did so, but ironically, their wills carried on into their offspring, and they were born with their parent's wishes. One was born an immortal, and the other a powerful witch."_ Neji looked confused. _"How about another one? Oh, Rokudo, The Sage of six paths, was one. He wanted enough power to save his family and friends from being killed by one of the elemental spirits that had gone wild. He literally willed his body to grow the chakra pathways in his body, and created a massive shield of chakra to stop the spirit in it's path, after learning how to harness the newly found power, he spread his teachings to the world around him."_

Neji looked amazed. Was willing oneself to be stronger really all it took? The will to work hard for what he wanted and to protect it?

"_How about another one? The Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama. He wanted peace, and the constant fighting between the Senju and the Uchiha clan was never going to come to an end. Eventually, the Senju head willed Madara Uchiha to listen to him. The two agreed, and they eventually formed a pact to create the first hidden village, Konohagakure."_ She stopped.

She sighed, as he asked another question. "Is it really the reason why Naruto was so much stronger then me?"

She smiled and nodded. _"Yes, the training he went through to get that strong in both this world, and the one I showed you was so tough his body almost fell apart on him. Only through sheer will did he go on to become stronger._

_Destiny. Destiny is the will of the gods being put into a single moment. A single instance. Destiny is things coming together that Fate had predestined, and put them all together to make a much larger picture. Destiny is the ultimate goal of how things will go. Destiny is how the future will look. Be it a bright one, or an evil one. It is the outcome of battles. The outcome of two seemingly unimportant people meeting each other for the first time, and how it will go from there."_

"So Destiny controls a bigger picture, while Fate controls all the little things. The two work together towards the same goal. Fate can be overcome easily, but it takes a vast amount of will from one individual, or a group or people to overcome Destiny, but it can still happen." Neji stated.

"_Exactly."_ She nodded.

Neji nodded, seeming to get it now. "Two more questions. _Namikaze_ Naruto? As in, the son of the Fourth Hokage?"

She chuckled. _"The chuunin exams ended two days ago. The announcement was already made that Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage."_

Neji nodded. He seemed to ponder that for a moment. It looked like he was going to ask Naruto a lot of questions later on. "Last one. I know you said it's not important, but really, who are you?"

She nodded, and told him. Neji's eyes widened.

"I wouldn't say that." The nurse replied to Neji's earlier question. Neji turned his head to look up at her. He quickly turned back to look for the girl, but she was gone; the only ones in the room now were him and the nurse. "There's always a chance that something could come up, and fix your legs." Neji looked up at her, this time believing her.

If there's a will, there's a way, and he'd be damned if he was stuck in a wheel chair all his life.

–

Sakura sighed. She really wanted to go and find _her_ Sasuke-kun, but she was stuck doing solo D-rank missions. Kakashi really didn't want to deal with them, and Kiba was nowhere to be seen, though the often whimpering of a whipped dog could be heard coming from the Inuzuka compounds. Sasuke hadn't bothered to show up for the last two day's meetings at all.

Sakura sighed once again, as she picked up the brush to begin painting the fence. As much as she hated doing this, her sensei said that if she didn't, he would kick her out of the ninja program, and being with Sasuke was the only motivation for her. Though, lately, she was wondering where he was.

–

Sasuke panted heavily. The seal had only gotten worse as he used more of the power from it, and the damned log was STILL STANDING! It infuriated him that no matter how many times he threw fire balls, exploding kunai, chakra enhanced punch and kicks at it, it wouldn't BUDGE! It was JUST like the dobe in determination to stand in his way!

Sasuke growled at the log, as he once again imagined it as Naruto.

The Dobe had pounded him into the ground, literally, during their match. His entire bone structure had been fractured. He still hurt in places that he didn't know existed. The medics worked over time to get his bones back together. It had taken a full 3 teams of 5 medics to mend all of his bones. Then there was the ruptured internal organs he had due to the final move Naruto had used on him. If it wasn't for the fact that he had been using the curse seal, he would've died right then and there.

When he woke up in the middle of the night after the exams, he was still bound by casts, and bandages wrapped around his body. He was told to sit still for a few days, and rest until he felt better. When the medics left the room, a strange man had entered the room. The man... he couldn't remember what he looked like. All he remembered was white skin. The man lifted his hand, and put it on Sasuke's face. The strange part was that the hand didn't stop. It went right through him, and it looked like the man had fallen on top of him. He felt immense pain for the rest of the day, and blacked out. When he woke up, he was at home, and he felt the need to hit something. He went outside, noticed that the sun was setting, and started to hit on the log. He did so all night long, and now here he was the next morning.

He growled when he remembered WHY he was angry again. NARUTO! WHY was thay goddamn dobe so damn strong? He was an elite. HE should've won like it was nothing!

The signs of the first release of the seal made it's way across his face.

"_Hehehe."_

Sasuke jerked out of his internal monologue and looked around. "Who's there!" He yelled out.

"_Why hello there, Sasuke."_ I said, as I appeared next to him, sitting on my book once again.

"Who are you!" He demanded.

I waved my finger at him. _"Be more polite to a Lady. You wont woo any girls with that attitude. You need a harem to resurrect your clan once more, right?"_

"I said, WHO are you?" He yelled at her, flaring his Sharingan. He gasped. She had no chakra, yet he could clearly see her. This was no clone. Was this a puppet?

I looked at him with a bored look on my face. I snapped my fangers, and suddenly Sasuke was hanging upside-down by his right foot. I giggle as I watched the look on his face. _"Now, how do you greet a Lady?"_

Sasuke did not look amused. He was downright pissed. "Put me down, and tell me who you are, _Lady!_" He said with a snarl.

"_Hmph. If you just continue like that, I'll guess I'll leave you without answering the question your heart wants most. 'Why is Naruto so strong?' Well, anyways, I guess I'll leave you hanging."_

"Wait!"

I Stopped a moment before I snapped my finger, and raised an eyebrow. _"Wait, what?"_

Sasuke grunted. He really wanted to know the answer to this. "Wait, _Please._" he said, as if it was a foreign word to him.

"_Hmph. Could be better, but it's a start."_ I said. _"Now, do you really want to know why Naruto is so powerful?"_ I asked.

"Yes."

"_Yes, what?"_

He snarled and scowled at me. "Yes, _Please."_

"_Still could do better. Know what? I'm not telling you until I hear sincerity out of it."_

Sasuke just scowled, but controlled his voice this time. "Please?" It sounded ALMOST like begging, but not quite.

"_Still not sincere enough."_ He scowled again. _"Look, I COULD do this all day, but I have other things to do. I'll leave you like this until the blood runs to your head, and finally gets it some nice oxygen."_ I said, as I disappeared.

–

I reappeared hovering waaaaay above the village. Heck I could touch a cloud that was right above me. _"Hmmm, who next?"_ I asked, as I looked around the village. I mentally chuckled at the thought of leaving Sasuke there for a couple of days, hanging by his foot.

I looked at the Hokage tower, and a thought rushed through my head. _"Why not? It's been 20 years since I last scared the shit out of him."_ I snapped my fingers, and disappeared.

–

Kakashi slowly walked down the streets of Konoha. He was reading his 'oh so precious' Icha icha paradise book. He giggled perversely. The streets around him were crowded and packed. It was merchants day today, and people from the exams were still lingering in the city.

A giggle echoed through the air, and Kakashi's eyes widened and looked around for the source. When he couldn't find it, he looked back down to his book, only to scream bloody murder.

In his hands were a pair of white panties with a pink bow on it; his book nowhere in sight.

He was almost to scared to look up, but he did anyways to confirm his fears.

The are many taboos in a ninja village. One of these taboos was to never ever EVER piss off a large number of kunoichi at once.

Carrying around panties is a very good way to piss off kunoichi very quickly. And unfortunately, he had screamed bloody murder just a few seconds ago out of the fact that his book was missing. There was a Kunoichi only party in the bar next to him, and they had all rushed outside at the sound of a little girl screaming loudly. What they found, pissed them off in the real way.

"I'm screwed, aren't I?" He asked Kami, but a kunoichi nearby decided to answer.

Kurenai walked up to Kakashi. "We heard a little girl scream, and here we find you holding a pair of panties. Now, what do you think is going to happen, Kakashi?"

Kakashi gulped once. "Now, I-I can explain..." He said with pure fear in his voice.

Three female ANBU black ops jumped down behind him, and put their hands on his shoulders.

Kakashi saw Gai standing in the crowd that had gathered around him. "Gai! Help out a good friend!"

Gai looked around, and then looked at Kakashi as if HE was the crazy green spandex wearing ninja. "Sorry, Kakashi. But even I know when not to pick a fight."

Gai just told him to go 'F' himself. Great, such a wonderful friend.

He glared at Gai, but then he felt killer intent he hadn't felt in a long time. The killer intent of 20 woman scorned.

"Don't worry, Kakashi!" Gai said. Kakashi looked up at him with hope. "I'll be sure to pick you a nice youthful coffin to bury what little remains are left of you!"

Kakashi just stared at Gai, his hopes dashed. "Fuck you, Gai."

The next few moments would be described as the scariest moment to all guys everywhere.

–

Itachi looked over the village as he heard a perverted man getting pummeled by at least ten kunoichi. "This village never changes." He said slowly as he shivered.

"So this is your home village, eh, Itachi?" Kisame asked. The two were standing on the outer wall to Konoha.

"Hn." Itachi answered.

"What is that little girl screaming? I thought this village would help all little girls." Kisame asked as he looked over the village.

"That's no little girl. That's the scream of a perverted man getting pummeled by at least ten kunoichi." The scream got higher in pitch for a second. "Maybe more then 15."

"Oh? And how would you know this? Are you a pervert?" Kisame asked with a smirk.

Itachi looked over to his partner. "Depends. Are you?" He asked in a monotone.

Kisame chuckled. That was Itachi's way of saying yes. "Mah, mah. So, how're we going to find the little brat that holds the kyuubi?"

Itachi looked over the village. "Oh, it's not that hard. All you have to look out for are three things. One, people crying in corners. Two, massive amounts of graffiti in one location. Three, he has fox ears and tail."

Kisame chuckled. "That right, huh? I take it you know the little fox-boy personally."

"Very much so." Itachi countered. The two disappear off the wall of the village.

–

Sarutobi awakened with a startle. He could've sworn he heard a little girl scream in the village. He listened a little more closely. Ah, that was 'pervert getting mauled by kunoichi' scream. Very similar, but always has that short cut off at random pmoments, and get's higher in pitch at certain points. He shuddered. He was lucky to never get them to come after him, but it had been very close sometimes. He wondered who the unlucky bastard was this time.

He looked out his window. It was just barely passed 9 in the morning. He got up from the bed he was sleeping in, and stretched. It had been a long time since he had slept so well. He couldn't help but ask why it was so good. Normally, being anywhere near this house, and he would be unsettled to say the least.

"Oh well. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, they always say." He said to himself. Then again, who are the 'they' in that sentence. At that matter, who came up with the 'gift horse' part of that sentence. He just shrugged at his thoughts, and went to the kitchen of his house. He grabbed some cereal, a spoon, and a bowl, and then went over to the fridge. He unsealed some milk that was still fresh despite not being in the house for over a decade.

He created a few clones, and nodded to them as they left.

He went over to the table, and sat down. He pored a bowl of cereal, and then sat it down next to him.

"_Pass, the cereal please."_

"Sure." He said, as he passed the cereal over to the other side of the table. He pored the milk into his cereal, and then passed that over to the other side of the table as well. It was only then did he realize that there was supposed to be no one else at the table. He looked up, and sighed heavily.

"_What, only a sigh? I don't get any screams, yells at intruding on privacy, or nearly fatal heart attacks?"_ I asked with a pout.

"Because, Yosome, you've done that to me too many times." The old man said.

"_You're no fun, old man."_ I said.

"Compared to you, Yosome-obaa-chan, I am but an infant." Sarutobi snickered, as he took a bite of cereal from his spoon.

A tick mark appeared on my head. _"DON'T CALL ME OLD YOU OLD FART!"_ I grumbled for a bit. _"Seriously, no respect for me at all in this damned world."_ I took a spoonful of cereal after that to calm me down. Nothing like cold cereal to make all your stress go away.

"So, you're here for your 20 year check-up, I take it?" He asked me.

"_Yeah, but I think I'll stick around for the next few years."_ I answered.

At that he raised an eyebrow. "The last time you were here in this world, you said you had to take care of thousands of other worlds. Now, even though you're a goddess, that does take a lot of time, right?"

I nodded. _"Yes, but fate, the old hag, can take care of them while I disappear for a little while."_

Sarutobi nodded. "So, you gonna show me what the world should have been like, correct?" He asked.

I shook my head. _"No. You can already guess what the world should've been like."_

Sarutobi looked down at his cereal bowl. "The Fourth Hokage never died. Orochimaru never made his village, because he had died at the Fourth's hand when he tried to infiltrate the village. The Akatsuki were killed off by the Fourth. The Uchiha massacre never happened. The Kumo-Hyuuga incident was stopped before it could start. Tsunade started her medical-nin program. Naruto... Naruto would've lived a happy life. He would've been called a prodigy. A true genius for who he is." He paused. "We would've lived in a time of peace and prosperity." He finalized.

"_For the most part."_ I answered him. _"Except for a few things. One, that the Uchiha massacre was supposed to happen. It was supposed to kill off every one of them. Including Madara, when he was caught killing the last of his own clan members. Two, the kages of every village were supposed to come together, and destroy the Akatsuki together."_

"So, we weren't supposed to start it. But we did. We ordered Itachi to..." He sat in silence for a little while, and I chewed on more cereal.

When I finished, I decided to give the old man some peace. _"It's okay, Sarutobi-kun. When something major that isn't supposed to happen takes place, it really screws up the chain of events. You could've never known things like you do now."_

Sarutobi nodded. "So, how do you plan on fixing this to make peace?" He asked me, and took another bite out of the cereal.

I snapped my fingers, and my book appeared out of a black hole above me. I snapped my fingers again, and it opened up.

Sarutobi flinched, and closed his eyes rapidly. He waited for the brightness, but it never came. He slowly opened his eyes, and looked back up to me. He raised an eyebrow. I pointed up at my book. _"My book is opened to the next two years."_ I snapped my fingers, and the page turned. _"Three and four years into the future." _I snapped again. _"Five and six."_ Snapped. _"Seven and eight."_ I said. _"See any pattern here?"_

Sarutobi nodded. He was quite pale now.

I smiled, and snapped my fingers once more. _"Nine and ten."_

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew right then and there that the future will be in for a wild ride.

–

Sarutobi walked into the office to begin morning preparations. Okay, it wasn't really HIM. It was a clone. The real one was still in the Hokage valley. Still he did show up to work. He sat down, and created a few more clones. They got to work, and started getting the true bane of kages anywhere destroyed. Paperwork. After working for an hour, he heard a knock at his door.

"Enter." The lead clone said.

The door opened and the left over gennin walked in.

"Ah, welcome gennin." He looked around, and noticed that two of them weren't here. "Come, stand in a line in front of me." The gennin did so.

The gennin greeted him as the walked forward and got into position.

The hokage looked down at his list, and then back up at them.

You might think it would be easy to make reassignments, but in truth it is quite hard. You have to consider several things simultaneously.

Firstly, you had to acknowledge personalities. Some people just don't work well together, while others would fall in love. This might not seem like a problem, but love on a battlefield can blind you. You had to make it so that they could set aside their differences, and become like brothers and sisters in comrades.

Secondly, you had to consider who had been with who last time. If you can put a team together that had been working together in the past, the existing teamwork would work to bolster their strength as a whole.

Thirdly, you had to consider type of ninja. Some were close range. Others were long range. A good well rounded team needed a good close range, mid range, and long range member in each. Of course there are other types of squads, but this one was the basic.

He mentally checked each gennin as he looked at them.

Inuzuka Kiba. Hot headed, loud, and sometimes uncontrollable without high levels of killer intent. He was a medium to close range ninja that specialized in close range techniques. He was also a tracker type.

Aburame Shino. The exact opposite in personality to the first one. Quite, introvert, and logically controlled. He was a medium to long range that specialized in non-lethal take downs. He was also a high level strategist.

Yamanaka Ino. Loud, gossipy, and quite frankly cares a lot for her social status to the point that she trains little to no amounts. He heard from her father that he was sort of disappointed in her, and hoped to turn her around someday. She specialized in long range take downs with little to no skills for medium to short range. She was also a potential interrogator and infiltrator, but she would need to realize that this wasn't a game. Good luck with that.

Haruno Sakura. Honestly, The hokage thought she was almost completely useless, and the only thing she had for herself was extreme levels of chakra control. She was also the biggest fangirl he had ever seen since Itachi was in the village.

He closed his eyes, and thought up the last two gennin.

Hyuuga Neji. Stuck up, up tight, but can be easily controlled. Has high views on fate, and believes that he will beat everyone his own level. The kid had an ego the size of the damn Hokage mountain, but was also an emotional kid on the inside. The boy specialized in extreme short range techniques, and was a high level tracker. One of the highest he's ever seen. However, he was out of commission for a while, due to severe injuries.

Uchiha Sasuke. The first word that came to his mind after the image that came from him was emo. The kid had some serious emotional baggage, and it doesn't look like he'll let it up soon. The kid specialized in short to medium range techniques with both his sharingan and his family's taijutsu style, with some added medium range ninjutsu.

He mentally chuckled when he realized that both this class's, and the one before had emo rookie of the years, and loud and boisterous dobe of the year. Weird. He wondered how the next graduation class that was coming up in a few weeks will turn out.

He thought of the tokebestu chuunin he also had.

Akamichi Chouji. Plump. Followed orders to the letter, and liked to watch clouds with his friend Shikamaru. The boy was a tank on wheels, and could take massive amounts of damage with little to no problem. He was physically the strongest amongst his peers. He specialized in close to long range battles.

Rock Lee. Boisterous, loud, and unruly. Followed orders to the letter, and never fought against his comrades. His was a pure soul. He specialized in extreme taijutsu-only close range, and was very fast.

He smiled as he finally formulated a plan. All he would need is... Oh, that would do.

He remembered there was one more Tokubetsu chuunin in his ranks. A kunoichi. The name of Nii Seiyu. Younger sister of Nii Yugito, one of his more... outgoing ANBU. Seiyu couldn't enter the exams due to not having a team. She was a loner in the system at the moment, and was primarily used to help fill in for when teams had a missing member. Be that the chuunin teams, or gennin teams. The girl had been begging for a spot on a permanent team recently. Why not? She could really help out the fangirls. At least one of them.

When he wrote down a few things on his paper, he spoke up again. "I have your teams set up for you. You will report to these teams tomorrow at 1:00 P.M. for your new team.

Team 7 will be Akamichi Chouji, Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino. Lead by Hatake Kakashi." He could hear the two fangirls groan.

"Team 9 will be Rock Lee, Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura. Lead by Maito Gai.

"Team 10 will be Nii Seiyu, Yamanak Ino, and Hyuuga Neji. Lead by Sarutobi Asmua" He finished. He looked up, and inspected them. "Any questions?" He saw the two fangirls open there mouths, "Any SMART questions?" He glared at them. They promptly shut their mouths.

Shino spoke up. "Last I heard, Hyuuga Neji-san was still down, and not ready for active duty. Why are you putting him on a team?"

Sarutobi nodded. "Good question, Aburame-san. Neji will be healed once one of my students come back to Konoha. For now though, it will be a two man team." He stated.

Shino nodded.

"Any other questions?" He asked, and looked at the assembled gennin. When none of them spoke up, he looked back down to his paper work. "Dismissed."

They nodded and left out the door.

He had one of his clones pop to send information back to the original, and the other clones.

–

Another clone of Sarutobi entered the council chambers at the same time the other clone entered the office. "I thank you all for coming on such short notice." He said, as he walked around and sat a the head of the table.

To his left, was the civilian council members. These were the ones who made his life a living hell, but they were a necessary evil, as they handled the internal economy in the village, and the international trade routes. Civilians could travel to places where most shinobi can't. To enemy villages, and gain trade there. Many times, it was a freelancer group that had no affiliation with any village that completed a trade route between all the villages every 2 years or so. The 5 civilians that were on the council controlled these things, and were elected by the general populace. Though, how Haruno Isako kept getting voted onto the council was beyond him.

Over to his right was the shinobi council. Mostly made of clan heads, with a few empty seats for a select few. One of the empty seats belonged to Jiraiya, their top informant. Another for the Senju clan. He was sad to see that seat empty once more. Another seat belonged to the First Squad's Captain of the ANBU Black Ops, but he was currently on a mission.

Many civilians don't realize it, but there are actually several captains inside of ANBU. Eleven to be exact. There were elven full squads of 10 people per squad under each captain. These ten squads were his assault portion of the ANBU. The rest of the 30 or so ANBU he had under his command were the guardians of the village, the shadow patrols around this village, and had no rank. These were mostly the newcomers to ANBU, and required a little practice being in the squads. The squads were ranked from one to elven, with squad one being the highest ranking among them. The captain of this squad answered only to him, and had complete power over the ANBU when the hokage wasn't around or out of commission. This system was set up for ease of communication and structure of rank. He could relay a message to the First, who would then relay the message to the other available captains, and then his own squad, while the other captains would inform their own squads. If the captain of the squad was not available, then the second in command of each squad would be informed, and they in turn would inform their squad mates. In less then a minute, he could mobilize his entire ANBU unit if necessary. Sometimes in mere seconds if it called for it.

The seats that were full, were Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka. Out of the nine seats for the shinobi side only six were here.

"No problem, Hokage-sama." Hiashi answered. "What are we here for?"

"First, I want to thank you all for a great job in handling the invasion." He started.

"Pfft. As if you could call that an invasion. It was more like a massacre for them!" Tsume answered with a chuckle.

The rest of the shinobi chuckled with her, with the exception of Hiashi, who smirked slightly.

"Secondly, I wanted your opinions on what we should do with the prisoners of war." They had captured exactly 48 PoWs during the ambush. Mostly Suna, but they had a few Oto.

Before anything could be said by the shinobis, one of the civilians spoke up first.

"We should just kill them all. Prisoners of war eat up a lot of money."

"He has a point." Said Shibi. "We have to feed them, and give them water. They do nothing but suck up money. However, Suna had broken the treaty, they had no idea that their leader was a fraud."

"So what should we do with the suna PoWs?" Tsume asked.

"Just kill them off!" Said Itakana, a council member.

The five shinobi stared at them with a dull look. Sarutobi spoke up, "We can't just kill them all off. If we wish to become allies with Suna once again we can't just kill half of their force on just a whim."

"We still have to show them that we mean business." Tsume countered, "Why not kill off some of their chuunin, and then send the rest back across the borders?"

"That could work." Said Rourer another one of the civilian council members.

Sarutobi nodded. "Is the rest of the council in agreement about this?" There weren't any negatives. "Right, so, how should we dispose of the sound PoWs?"

"I demand public executions for them all!" Yelled a very loud Haruno Isako, Sakura's mother.

"You do realize that public executions cost a bit of money, correct?" Sarutobi drolled out. He was partially deaf in his left ear now, and had to wiggle his ear a little to get the ring out of it.

"Hpmh," Tsume grunted, "Why not just kill them off in their cells?"

"Troublesome, I think I have a better idea." Shikaku said in a lazy tone.

Everyone closed their mouths, and paid full attention to the Nara. When a Nara has an idea, it usually works.

"Troublesome, We take the Suna PoWs, and throw them into the sound territory without weapons or supplies. We also take the Oto nins, and throw them directly at the Suna village. Before we do, we put them all in a genjutsu of some kind that will make them attack each other's villages. The Suna one will wear off, and let them retreat after a while, while the Oto will commit suicide in the end. Thus punishing both villages for their actions against us, and getting some usefulness out of them being held in our prisons."

The entire room was silently pondering the idea. "And how will you apply such genjutsu?" Sarutobi asked. While applying mass genjutsu is not unheard of, it is very difficult to perform, and will only last so long.

"Troublesome, Fuinjutsu." was all the Nara said, and then plopped his head back down onto the table.

The old man nodded. Applying seals to a person would prolong the effect of the genjutsu, even make it permanent.

Hiruzen thought for a moment, and then spoke up, "Does anyone have questions?"

Shibi raised his hand, "Who will perform the sealing?"

Shikaku raised his hand with his head still on the table, "Jiraiya of the Sennin can create the seal in no time. Creating copies of it should only be a matter of minutes, and application should only take so long. It is only a genjutsu fuinjutsu, and not a major seal. As far as my knowledge of such seals go they are only about four or five steps long, and can easily be replicated." He let his hand drop, and fell back asleep.

"Any others?" The Hokage asked. When no one else raised their hand he spoke again, "Right, All in favor?" All hands rose except Shikaku's who was asleep. "All against?" No hands rose. "It shall be done. Next on my list is the economic back lash of this little excursion..."

–

After talking for a few hours of talking, I decided to leave. Sarutobi smiled, and told me to come back and visit once more. He blinked, and I disappeared.

The old man had a lot to think of now. How he wanted to take Konoha into the future. With Destiny and Fate no longer in control of the events that will happen, everyone has full control over their own futures.

It will literally be a battle of wills.

With one determining this world's fate. That one has a heavy burden on his shoulders. He wondered who it was.

He sighed, and checked the time. It was close to noon now, and he supposed he should check on Naruto.

He walked out of his house, and went over to the Fourth's.

On his way over, he thought back to certain parts of the conversation.

_Flashback_

"_So, the next ten years. Are you sure, Yosome? Doing something like this could mean-"_

"Severe consequences. I know."_ she responded. The little girl looked down sadly. _"Everything I tried to save this world ended up being thrown in my face, Sarutobi. First the Juubi being locked away when it was only giving a test. Then the Shodaime willing the leader of a despicable clan to make peace with them. It's just been one thing after another. Truthfully? Verallians, witches, werewolves, real demons, genocidal elemental spirits, immortal humans. They were never meant to exist in this world. This world was supposed to live in peace and prosperity, but... Why? Why are you humans so damn impossible to control?"_ She looked really sad at this point._

_Sarutobi got up, and walked around the table to her. He knelt down, and he hugged her. "Because, Yosome-chan. We can't control ourselves. We humans act on a strange mix of both logic and emotions. Some humans live without logic, and act on emotion only, becoming mere savages. Other humans act out of nothing but logic, making them into machines. The point is, humans need both. It had taken me a long time to learn that, Yosome-chan. That is the will of fire in this village. That is what makes me kind and compassionate when I need to be, and a cold-hearted ruler the other times." She looked back up at him, and smiled in a true way._

"Thank you, Hiruzen-kun."_ She patted the book underneath her._ "The first time you and I met, I was going to destroy this book. But then you came along, you snot-nosed brat." _She chuckled at this point, as did the old man. They had fun times when they played around._ "It was because of you that this book, and in turn this world, still exists. I needed to hear that from you once more, Hiruzen-kun. You were the first one who saw what being a kind being truly is. You're the first one who saw the trick behind my book."_ She paused._ "You're literally my favorite guy in this world. You have never tried to break Destiny, but flow along with it, in hopes of returning the world to peace. Some may call you weak willed for that, but in my eyes, it takes a strong will to defy Destiny. It takes an even stronger one to see where Destiny will lead you, and truly believe in it.

"It is why I am doing this, this time around. The gathering of this many strong willed individuals in one place is too much of a coincidence. No. I will not watch this time, and observe as the world tears itself to pieces."

End flashback

Sarutobi paused next to the office of Minato Namikaze. His successor's office. He peeked through the cracked door, only to see what he expected to see.

A passed out Naruto. The fox-kid wore himself out trying to figure out a puzzle left for him by his father. The kid wasn't exactly the sharpest kunai in the bunch, but what he lacked in the thinking department, he made up for in ingenuity and creativity. The ability to think up something on the spot with a little motivation. The old man chuckled. The more the kid changed as time passed by, the more he stayed the same.

"What's up, Oji-san?" Naruto asked him from behind, nearly scaring the hell out of him.

He looked to the Naruto behind him, and then into the room where it held a sleeping Naruto. "A clone I take it?"

"Yeah. Boss wanted us to take in as much of the house as we could, as well as think of a solution to our problem."

"Problem?" He asked.

"Yeah, well. No matter how much the boss tries, he can't seem to unlock the last scroll from behind the seal."

"Well, how long has he been asleep now?" Sarutobi asked.

"Um, about 7 hours now." The clone said.

"Alright. I'll talk to him. Sometimes, looking at something with a different set of eyes can open up a path unknown to the first." He said sagely. The clone nodded, and then went back off to it's task.

The Professor walked into the study slowly, and sat down behind the desk Naruto was sleeping against. He carefully took up the letter his successor had made out to Naruto. He read it carefully, and then looked back up at the pictures.

Himself in his prime.

Senju Hashirama standing next to his brother Senju Tobirama. Both in their Hokage battle uniforms. Both standing there with a smile on their faces. Just like the last time he had scene them alive in real life.

His student Jiraiya.

His student Orochimaru, before he become the monster he was.

His student Tsunade.

Minato standing in a fighting pose. A hardened look in his eyes, but a smile on his face.

Kushina, Minato's wife, standing there looking tall and proud as she always was. She was the real reason why Minato became so strong.

He looked down to the scrolls on the desk before him. There were six scrolls, all standing on one side, in the exact order of the pictures. The was room to the right of the sixth one for the one that was supposed to come from Kushina's seal.

None of the other scrolls were open yet. In fact they all still had their family blood seal on them.

He nodded to himself, and then quickly kicked the front of the desk he was sitting at.

Naruto stirred from his resting place, and stretched as he slowly woke up.

"Hello, Naruto-kun." The old man said.

Naruto looked back at him, not really surprised. "Hello, Oji-san. Come to help out?"

"Why not? I figured that I might help you out somewhat. Being the Professor does have its quirks you know." Sarutobi smiled.

Naruto chuckled. "Okay, where do you want to start?"

"Well, from all of my experience, sometimes it's best to go back to the root of the problem. Try reading the letter you got from your dad out loud. Particularly the part about the paintings and the order."

"_Behind each painting is a special something to you. The order of the release is 5247316. Please memorize that so you can repeat it forwards and backwards."_ Said while reading it out loud.

The old man nodded. "Okay, now. What have you done?"

–

Haku's PoV

Haku was having a blast. She had been at the chuunin exams, and to be honest, she was a little afraid of Naruto at full power. Then she thought back to the goofy smile he always made, and chuckled as she remembered him being kind hearted.

Surprisingly, she was getting along well with the people around her. She made some friends with her neighbors, and got to mingle with the civilians.

Sure, she had a private ANBU escort 24/7, but she didn't mind. She even got to know one of her 'shadows' Neko.

Neko was friendly to say the least, but they both kept the fact they could become enemies at any moment in the back of their heads. So it was a friendly, if strained relationship.

She still had 6 months to go before she could become a shinobi, and work along side with her secret crush. She had seen him walking into the academy building duriung the chuunin exams, and suffice to say, she was gone. Haku wondered if the guy would even like her though.

Currently, she was taking her groceries home from the local store, and both of her hands were full. She almost tripped over herself when she saw her crush round the corner, and she instantly hid behind her bags with a blush.

As soon as the guy walked right by her, she breathed out, and continued on.

Or she would've, if the people around her hadn't stopped walking. Hell, no one was even breathing. She looked around for a while, but there was nothing there.

She heard a girl giggle right behind her. Haku spun on her foot, placed the bags down, and pulled out her hidden senbon. She almost dropped it when she came face to face with a little girl.

Said little girl was hanging upside down, but gravity seemed to be going up for her, as her frilled dress and hair went up instead of down.

"_Hello Haku."_ The girl said, but it seemed more in her mind, then physically. Still the girl's mouth moved. _"I have come to see if you want to see a world unseen?"_

Haku, being wary of the girl, but lowered her senbon answered, "Who are are, and what do you mean, a 'world unseen?'" with a question of her own.

"_I mean just that. This book here,"_ She gestured to the book to her right, _"will show you a world of what could have been. Do you wish to see your destiny of the past?"_ She asked.

Haku raised an eyebrow. She thought it over for a minute. "No. I'm happy here. Why would I want to see this world when it could only be something that can't be?"

The girl giggled. _"Good answer. You don't want to burden yourself with something that can't be. You're not the first to answer like that. However, this is important. For the good of the future, you must see this story."_ She snapped her fingers, and the book opened.

Flash.

Haku giggling with some of the girls in an academy class.

Flash.

The Mizukage patting her on the head for a job well done.

Flash.

Her father praising her for her mastery of her bloodline.

Flash.

Meeting a blond man a red haired woman and Naruto. The man wore the hokage hat.

Flash.

Her mother smiling down at her. "Haku, I love you." Her voice echoed.

Flash.

Haku threw a senbon at a man to distract him, as Zabuza tore through the enemy. Naruto yelled something at her, and she dodged.

Flash.

Standing before the gates of Iwagakure. She saw the back of her teammates as they rushed up to the gates. Their chuunin instructor chuckling at the boys' antics.

Flash.

Hinata standing at her back, both of them mocking each other while cutting down the large number of strange animals.

Flash.

Receiving a chuunin jacket from her kage.

Flash.

Seeing a far and wide desert. A red haired boy, Gaara, smiling up at her, and holding out his hand.

Flash.

Crying over a young boy's body, and yelling out something incoherent.

Flash.

Haku was on the ground crying her heart out. The images she saw were cruel and joyful at the same time. She knew this world would never exist, but she wanted it so badly.

The last image made her feel sick. She looked up to the girl with disdain. "Why? Why did you show me this?"

The girl, having lost her smile, sighed. _"It is because you need to know these things. You need to know that your village's mizukage was truly not evil. He was being controlled."_

"Controlled?" Haku asked.

"_Yes. By who? That is for you to find out. You could've had this life if not for the fact that the Mizukage, Yagura, was controlled. However, I do not mean for you to become an avenger. I mean for you to forgive your people who shunned you. Even your own father."_ She paused. _"You saw how happy he was with you, correct?"_

Haku slowly thought back, and nodded. "Yes. I remember that. So, I'm supposed to forgive them just like that?" A tear streaked down her cheek. She would never feel that in reality.

The girl shook her head. _"No. No immediately. But you should forgive them with time. This was also supposed to give you a purpose. To help you return to your village long lost to madness. It is not your destiny to grow up here."_

"Not my destiny?" Haku thought for a moment. "I was supposed to live happily with my family. I was to never know fear until I entered the academy. But no. That past never happened. I will choose to live here instead."

The girl smiled at that. _"Truly, you are strong, Haku-chan. You wish to stay here, and protect the ones you know now. The first friend your age, Naruto, and you secret crush."_

Haku blushed at that. "Wh-what do you mean by 'strong'? I thought I failed as a weapon to my master, Zabuza."

The girl huffed. _"Didn't you already get over that? I mean come on. You are no weapon, but you are a shield. Weapons were meant to hurt, a shield was meant to protect. However, you are not just a mere tool for protection. You have feelings and emotions. You can think for yourself. Don't just throw your life away, dear girl. For if you do, you'll make your precious ones sad."_

Haku looked down. She hadn't thought of that. "What about the rest of the images?"

"_Everyone is destined to meet a certain someone. From these points, new actions occur. You were supposed to meet Naruto much earlier then you had in reality. From that, you were supposed to make new abilities that the world had never seen before. Sadly, that never happened. However, the images do make up for things. From here, you will create your own path. Make your own future. Meet your own destiny."_ The girl disappeared.

Haku looked all around her, but couldn't find the girl. She thought about what the girl had said. Meet her own destiny? Be a shield, but keep your feelings? Life. Strength.

Haku looked down, but then heard noise all around her. Time had started up again. She went to pick up her groceries, but stopped when a hand went for the same bag. She looked to see who it was, and blushed at being in close proximity to her crush.

"You looked like you needed some help." The boy said.

–

Double Doors burst open.

"I need some medic-nin, Stat!" A male shinobi yelled out. He was pulling a medical bed behind him with Kakashi lying on it. He looked battered and bruised. Several of his arms were in temporary splints, and his neck was being kept still by a brace. His clothes were torn up, and scratched to hell. Amazingly, his mask survived somehow, so his face was still covered, however, that wasn't to say that he had major scratches on it.

However, he wasn't laying down flat. Both of his hands were covering his crotch, and his knees bent up to help protect his precious jewels. He had tears coming out of his eyes, and was crying in a high pitch.

Several medics came up, and started to diagnose the poor man.

"What happened to him?" One of the medics asked.

"He pissed off a load of kunoichi." said a female walking behind them. It was Kurenai. "Me included."

The female medics stopped, and looked at her for an answer.

"Code 73-A." was all Kurenai said, and walked out the door.

At that moment, all of the female medics left, leaving a miniscule few male medics left, as medic-nins tended to be female due to high chakra control levels required for the job.

Kakashi would live... barely.

–

Lee pumped his fist in a one two fashion. He was currently hitting a log as hard as he could with each strike.

Normally this would tear up the skin on your knuckles, but over time, Lee's knuckles hardened and the skin calloused, thus, this was actually not really that difficult for him to do.

He had seen how badly outclassed he was by the other contestants in the chuunin exam.

His fist missed it's target.

"Alright, since I could not do 1000 one two punches in a row, I shall do 1000 kicks with each leg. If I cannot do that I will Do 100 push-ups. If I can not do tha-"

Before Lee could continue, a loud voice interrupted him. "DYNAMIC ENTERY!" Gai double barrel kicked Lee in the chest.

Normally, a kick from this man would shatter bones. However, Lee had been trained by this man to harden his bones.

"LEE! HOW UNYOUTHFUL YOU'VE BECOME! TO NOT NOTICE YOUR SURROUNDINGS IS UNFORGIVABLE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!(caps lock ftw) I HAVE TRULY BECOME UNYOUTHFUL! I HAVE FAILED YOU!"

"DO NOT WORRY MY STUDENT, FOR TOGETHER, WE SHALL BECOME MORE YOUTHFU-" Gai's rant was stopped by a book that hit him in the head. "What's this?" He picked the book up from the ground, and read the title. "10 things women want in their men?" He opened the book, turned to the first page, and read it.

–

I giggled while sitting on top of the Hokage mountain. _"Another job well done."_ She smiled to herself.

(Yosome)

"_Yes?"_

(Could you please stop f***ing up my story?)

"_You do realize that I am technically you, right?"_

(… yeah, but stil-)

"_So then technically, this is my story as well, so SHUT THE F*** UP!"_ Then I turned to look over the town. _"Now what to do, what to do?"_ I asked myself, and then disappeared.

–

Gaara's PoV

Gaara was slightly happy today, although you wouldn't see it on his face. He had met a cute girl, and the girl had even asked him out on a date. He didn't know what to think about it. Should he accept her invitation?

Gaara originally planned on leaving the village yesterday, but his village's council had asked him to stay in Konoha. So he had to stay, but he actually enjoyed it here. The air was crisp and cool. The green trees making him feel alive.

The villagers looked at him darkly, but to say the truth, he was used to it, and completely ignored them.

Currently, he was sitting on a bench next to a river, and his eyes were closed as he listened to the soothing sounds that was the river flowing.

Suddenly, the sounds of the river stopped. He opened his eyes, and say that the people had stopped in mid-motion. A kid and his ball were idly floating in midair. It seemed as if time had stopped.

He felt a presence next to him, and he turned to look at a little girl sitting on the bench, and she had a big book in her lap. _"Hello, Gaara."_ Her voice soothed him, and strangely enough, Shukaku stopped ranting altogether, and for once, he felt calm and peaceful both inside and out.

In his quietest voice, so as not to scare the girl, he asked, "Who are you?"

"_My name is not important, Gaara-kun. What is important is that I ask you a question."_

He just stared at the girl, waiting for her to ask it.

The girl looked over to the river. _"Tell me. Have you ever wondered what your life could have been like? How you were destined to live?"_

Gaara didn't even think about it. "I don't really care. I've lived only for myself. Nothing can change that." He said in a monotone. "Proving my existence here and now was all that ever mattered to me."

The girl shook her head. _"That was then, when you truly thought yourself to be a monster. Now, though, what do you truly feel?"_

Gaara turned his head, and looked at the river. Strangely enough, he could see his reflection. Did he really see himself as a monster? "You are right. I truly did think myself a monster. A demon. Someone who craved blood. But now..." he stopped.

"_Now, you don't know what you want to do. Now, you don't have a path to pick and follow. You feel lost."_ She said solemnly.

Gaara thought it over. Was that true? Was he lost? Yes. He had lost his way of life, and he would never be able to return to that. So what would he do now? What will he pick for his future.

"_Gaara." _He turned to look at her, and he saw something in her eyes. Something that he himself had never had since his uncle. _"I think I can help you out."_ The girl said.

"How?" He asked.

"_I can show you a path that you yourself picked in a different world. A world that does not exist. The path you originally picked by Destiny."_ She said.

Gaara thought about it for a moment. What could he lose? Maybe this would help him pick his own path. "Alright." He said nothing else.

The girl snapped her fingers, and the book opened up in her lap, and unfolded into his lap.

Flash.

His father looking at him begrudgingly, as he always had.

Flash.

A blond man walked up to him while Gaara was wondering the village. The man's words echoed. "You look lost, kid."

Flash.

A new Mizukage had taken the plate. His uncle. He was shaking hands with the blond man he met earlier.

Flash.

His father's funeral. It was quick. No one really liked him.

Flash.

Gaara laying on his back. The Yondaime looking at the seal on Gaara's stomach with a scowl across the man's face.

Flash.

Gaara waking up from his first time to actually sleep peacefully.

Flash.

Gaara opened his eyes from another flash. He was currently in the Kazekage's office, talking with his uncle. "You want me to meet who?"

"I want you to meet the Yondaime's son. The boy is showing amazing skill for one so young. Maybe you can pick up a skill or two from him." The Kazekage smiled.

Gaara nodded. "Alright, where do I meet him, oji-san?" OG(our Gaara) had noticed the life this self had lived. His uncle had not betrayed the younger Gaara, and the boy stayed loyal to him. OG had noticed he had no control over this body, but was forced to experience everything. Like he was a puppet.

"You'll meet him in the park. Now run along. The Yondaime will be here shortly, and you probably would be bored with our meeting." The smile had never wavered. It stayed true.

Gaara nodded, and ran out the door.

Along the way, he met his sister and brother. "Where are you going little bro?" Temari asked.

"Out to play, wanna come with me?" He asked.

Both of them smiled. "Sure."

They ran out to the park where kids were laughing and having fun. Normally, kids would play around noon. That's not true for the sunagakure village though. Since it was hot in the middle of the day, most people would stay inside until just an hour before dusk.

The air cooled quickly at this time, and the sand has a nice warm sensation to it. Kids loved to play in the sand in this particular spot in the village where the sand was the softest, and had no rocks whatsoever. This is where the park is.

The three arrive just as soon as everyone was coming out to play. "Ah! You must be Gaara!" A kid's voice yelled out. Not just any kid, it was Naruto.

Gaara and the group turn their heads to see a blond kid running up to them in a fast dash. "Who are you?" Gaara asked.

"The name's Namikaze Naruto! Son of the Yondaime! You can call me Naruto! And you have to be Gaara, right?" Naruto anded with an excited question.

Gaara nodded. "Yes."

"So, what do you guys play around here?"

The next few hours were spent playing around in the many games that the kids played.

At one point Naruto had convinced Gaara to help prank his older sister. They managed to get lots of sand down her shirt. This ended with both of them being chased around for 10 minutes by an enraged Temari calling them both brats.

When the moon had just become visible over the wall of the village, the parents had come out to call their kids back in for bed.

The Yondaime came around then. "Naruto! Ah, there you are. You have fun?"

"Yeah, Daddy! It was really fun! Can I come back sometime?"

"Sure, Naruto of course. Say good-bye now." The blond man said to his son.

Naruto nodded an ran back to the three who were sprawled out on the ground from exhaustion. Naruto literally ran the three into the ground. "Hey, guys. I got to go now." He held out his hand. "Since we had so much fun together, want to be friends?" Gaara grabbed it, and stood up.

"Of course." Was all Gaara answered. OG felt a twinge in his heart. Like a big burden had been lifted from him.

Flash.

Gaara had walked into the academy for the first day. He had a huge smile on his face.

Flash.

Gaara graduating on his first try from the academy. He had the top score in his class, and everyone congratulated him for it.

Flash.

Gaara was sitting on a bench that sat on top of the wall of the village. Next to him were his teammates.

Baki appeared before the three. "Alright you three. Today we shall get acquainted with each other. I'll go first. My name is Dokuru Baki. I'll be your sensei until you become chuunin." He pointed to the sand gennin to Gaara's left. "You first."

"The name's Daki Seguru. I want to become the greatest puppeteer ever!" said the boy. He had the standard head gear most sand nin use. However, he had a red scarf around his neck, and red sandals.

Baki nodded. He pointed to Gaara next. "Next."

"My name is Sabaku no Gaara. I don't really have a wish, except to make many friends." was all Gaara said.

Baki nodded. He pointed to the last one. "Next."

The girl spoke up. "My name is Hasaen Seirra. Right now, I'm considered the worst in my class, however, I wish to prove them all wrong. I will become strong!" The girl wore goggles on her head, and dark blue light clothes with black in some areasthat covered most of the body. This was to reduce heat as much as possible. She wore white sandals, and white gloves.

Baki nodded. "Tomorrow, I'll be taking you three on your first test run. I want to see how you three work together." With that the man disappeared.

Flash.

Gaara was walking up to the village's gates for Konohagakure. It was just like OG remembered it, but something was different. He couldn't tell what.

After he walked into the village, he noticed something WAS different. The air felt more comfortable then OG remembered. The people had true smiles on their face. Like they hadn't scowled on their face in a long time. The village had more banners, more people walking in the streets. He saw more food stands and bartering for goods was constantly going on. Money flowed more fluently.

Now, to the average person this might be hard to spot, even when looking for it. For Gaara to spot it, who didn't really even care about people around him to see something like this meant that their was a large difference. Much bigger then he realized.

Baki turned around. "Alright you three, be sure be to be at our hotel tonight. Have fun when looking around. Remember don't strain yourselves. You have the chuunin exams tomorrow."

Flash.

Gaara and Naruto were sitting on top of the Hokage mountain. Specifically, the Yondaime's head. They were both talking, and both of them had smiles on their faces.

"Let's promise to do our best in the chuunin exams!" Naruto yelled.

Flash.

Gaara was running through the forest of death. He stopped his teammates, and they looked upon a battlefield.

Two full groups of Kumo ninja were surrounding Naruto's team. On his team were Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee. The three had their backs to each other in a triangle formation.

Naruto was wearing something akin to his father's uniform, but without the vest on. Strapped to his hips were two swords. His headband was black, and he was wearing it on his forehead. His spiky hair went to midback.

Neji was wearing the standard Hyuuga dress code, except that he had a long katana strapped across his back.

Lee was probably the most different from his real world counterpart. He wasn't wearing the horrid green suit. He didn't have a bowl hair cut. He didn't have bushy brows. Instead, he had loose black pants that looked extremely comfortable, but didn't get in the way of his fighting. He had on a dark green loose shirt that had camouflage patterns to it, and the sleeves went to his elbows and hung loosely there. He had bladk fingerless gloves that went up to his mid forearm. His hair was trimmed short in the front, but went just to about midback. Oh yeah, and he had smaller eyebrows.

If there was one thing all three had in common was that all three had hair that went down to midback.

The two Kumo teams dashed in to attack them. The three fought them off with fluent attacks, and grace not known to many normal humans. They attacked and moved as one, and all of their attacks coordinated in such a way that they could all fight at max speed and still not get in each other's way. Gaara also noted that they all used Taijutsu only. No special attacks either. OG mentally wondered how strong these three were compared to the real world's three.

When it was over, the three relaxed their guard. "You can come out now, Gaara." Naruto called out.

Gaara jumped down, and walked up to them. "That was amazing you guys!" said Seirra.

"Gee, thanks." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head.

"What are you guys doing here?" Neji asked.

"We came to see our competition." Gaara honestly said.

Naruto turned to smile at his teammates. He looked back at Gaara. "So? What do you think?" he asked.

Seguru spoke up. "No chance I'm getting chuunin this time."

The six laughed. "We're not THAT good." Lee commented. Neji wandered over to two of the downed Kumo nin.

"So, you guys have your scroll?" Naruto asked to Gaara

Gaara smiled and lifted up his two scrolls.

Naruto whistled. "Dang, already got them? Okay then, we can head back to the tower together then."

Neji walked back. "We also have an extra earth scroll. We could help out Hinata's group since they had a heaven scroll."

"Awww, isn't that adorable. Big strong Neji is looking out for his cute younger cousin." Naruto teased him.

"Shut up. We both know she could beat my ass up and down this forest."

"True." Naruto chuckled. "So let's get moving."

Flash.

Gaara was walking down the stairs onto the main floor of the preliminaries. A total of 30 people had passed the exam, and so they had to knock down the number of people. When he got to his starting point he turned to look at his opponent.

It was an Iwa nin. Standard clothing for a close combat type. Gaara narrowed his eyes.

A blond woman with a big bust called out at this moment. "Sorano Bakuhei v. Sabaku no Gaara! HAJIME!"

The Iwa nin immediately jumped back, and started some handseals. Before Gaara could even react, the Iwa nin called out his technique. "Suiton: Tama no jutsu."_(Water style: Bullet jutsu)_ and he flipped a bottle open that was on his waist. Thousands of little bullets streamed out of the bottle, and peltered Gaara's position. Gaara took several hits, but no one even flinched at the sight. The reason why? Because Gaara was right behind the Iwa nin.

Gaara lashed out a vicious punch to the man's middle, and sand stuck to his enemy's body. The man flew through the air and hit the opposite wall being pushed on by Gaara's sand attack.

"Too slow." was all Gaara said. "You're no match for me. Give up now."

"Urg, aye ya stupid brat! That hurt. Now I'm goin' to hafta to pummel ya down!" the Iwa nin dashed forward. When he got in striking range, Gaara's sand wrapped around his fist, and yanked him into the air. The Iwa nin chuckled, and then fell apart into dust.

Gaara's eyes widened as he felt a punch going for his head. Gaara turned around, and OG raised a mental eyebrow. The fist was stopped in midair. Gaara chuckled. OG's eyebrow raised even more. "Sand is controlled by two mastered elements. Wind and earth. As long as I can breathe and feel earth beneath my feet, I am will remain undefeated." With that, Gaara's sand wrapped around the poor Iwa nin. "Now, forfeit."

"Proctor I forfeit!"

"Winner," The blond woman started. "Sabaku no Gaara!"

Flash.

Gaara stood in the middle of the arena.

"First match!" The blond woman called out. "Sabaku no Gaara versus" Gaara looked to his opponent "Hyuuga Hinata!"

Hinata got into a strange taijutsu stance. It didn't look anything like the stance that Neji used. Gaara dropped into a battle stance of his one. His sand floated around him in a strange semblance to that of an orchestra's music echoing through the air. In broken waves.

"Hajime!"

Hinata disappeared, and before he could react, she reappeared in front of Gaara unleashing an attack. His sand automatically moved to his mind to block it, but then he felt pain in his cheek as another Hinata flashed into existence already DONE with an attack. The first Hinata disappeared.

Another Hinata appeared right behind him this time his sand blocked her incoming fist. The second Hinata disappeared. Gaara dropped to the ground, but got back up quickly using his sand. He sent a spike at the girl only for it to be dodged. He punched forward with his fist, and a wave of sand flashed to where the girl would land. Hinata's body blinked for an instant, and then the sand passed through her with no harm. The girl then split into three, and surrounded Gaara. They all attacked him at once.

OG was scared. Not for this Gaara's safety, his sand armor is stronger the OG's. No, what scared Gaara the most, was that this was all pure speed, and the attacks came from all directions. Gaara's sand had no way to counter attack, and as thus was beaten like a Pinata.

"Forfeit." Was all Gaara heard after the beating. Gaara's vision was swimming and he couldn't make out much. But her voice was much different from reality's Hinata. She sounded strong. Whole.

"Why are you so strong?" Gaara asked. This was a test for her.

Gaara could make out a smile in his swimming vision. "To protect my family." He heard determination on levels that even Naruto himself couldn't achieve.

Gaara smile. He could lose to this one. She fought just like him. She fought to protect those who loved her. That was his goal as well. "Fine. I forfeit. I wouldn't of had forfeited if you didn't answer correctly." was all Gaara said.

Flash.

Gaara sat there in a daze. The big book closed slowly. Was he really that much different? Why was his destiny so different from what really happened? Why did the things turn out like this? "Why did my Uncle not betray me?" his first question popped out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

The girl looked at him as he returned the gaze. _"He was ordered to, by your own father. He objected to it at first, but upon the threat that the man would send his own children to try and kill you, he agreed."_

Gaara's emotions, which were almost always in check were in a a frenzy. His uncle really didn't hate him?

"_Yes, Gaara. He didn't hate you."_ The girl answered the unasked question. _"And no, I'm not a mind reader. I can just read people really well."_

"Why was that world so much different then this one?"

The girl sighed. _"18 years ago, a man's dream had become twisted beyond any comprehension. In turn, this man's twisted dream twisted other's dreams. He bent them to his will. His desires. 16 years ago, he killed a boy, and twisted his teammates minds to his will. 14 years ago, this man twisted a spirit of unspeakable power, the kyuubi no kitsune, to his will, and had it attack this village. The yondaime sacrificed himself to seal this demon into his own kid. The kid grew up in a harsh life. There is one thing all of these points have in common though. They were never meant to happen."_

"Then how did they come to pass?" Gaara asked.

"_Will."_

"Will?"

"_Yes, will. A group of people working together to the same goal, the same willed goal, will happen, even if it was not meant to happen. Evidently, one man who has a strong enough will can change destiny a well. That is what happened here. One man who had enormous willpower became corrupt and twisted, and this is where we are now."_ She gestured to the world around her.

Gaara nodded somewhat, getting most of it. "Am I really that different from that other Gaara?" he asked.

The girl nodded. _"Yes. It's amazing what one man can do to change an entire world, isn't it?"_ She asked.

Gaara nodded as well. He fit the pieces together in his head. Because that man became twisted, he had the fourth hokage killed. Because that man was killed, his father never attempted to kill him. Since that never happened, Gaara grew up under the oppression that was his father, and as thus, grew up never trusting anyone. Not after his Uncle. But one thing stayed the same in both timelines. After he met Naruto, his world became different. The first one to show him that his path that his father had set was never meant for him.

"Why did you choose to show me this?" Gaara asked. "I know you could've left me as I was, but why was it so important that I see this?"

The girl looked out to the nearby river. _"Because, it was important for you to see that the world around you can be changed. If you don't like it, then fix it yourself. Will your own path, as I could say."_

Gaara, stoic as ever, nodded, and replied, "Thank you then. I will be sure to do that. However, I have a lot to think about.

The girl smiled. _"No problem Gaara. Become strong, and be a pillar to those around you."_

Gaara blinked, and then she was gone. He looked around for her, but then noticed that time had started up once again.

He closed his eyes. He certainly had a lot to think about.

–

To be continued...

Holy shit that was long for a single chapter... I was planning on going on, but I think I need to cut it off here. I didn't think it would be this long.

Originally I planned for 25 pages, but here I am at 31 pages. Just damn.

Anyways, Read, review, I have no Omake for this time, and worship the log.

I have a lot to work on... damn yosome. Always making my well planned stories go out the damn window...

_Tehehe, you know you love it. Otherwise, you'd get bored_

True... but that still doesn't mean you should be throwing my whole story plot out the damn window!

… oh well, See ya!

~Snipa


	21. Chapter 21: A Dream and a Mission

Disclaimer: [put witty disclaimer about not owning Naruto here]

Heya all. Sorry it took so long for this to get out. College, writer's block.. life in general as well as one of the scenes being incredibly difficult to put together.

Anyways, I hope this works all of your minds as it did mine.

Now on to the fic...

Chapter 21: A Dream and a Mission

Naruto and the Hokage had been at it for a while now, and they had come no further then what they have already tried. Well, to be fair, the old man thought of some ways that MIGHT work, but he had only been egging Naruto in the right direction with questions like "Well, why don't you try it backwards?" or "Have you tried to go in the opposite order for the buttons?" Still the two were breaking down from the monotony that is staring at a wall. For all they had done, they might as well have watched paint dry.

The old man stood up and stretched as he noted the time from the sun over head. "Naruto, I think it's time for a lunch break."

"Oh, c'mon, Ji-ji! I'm close. I can feel it. Just give me a bit more time." As if to answer the old man, Naruto's stomach growled. The silver haired boy glared at his belly's betrayal.

The old man chuckled. "Come along, Naruto-kun. Let's go see if Ichiruka's is still standing."

Naruto immediately latched onto the idea. "WOOOO! RAMEN!"

XXXXXX

Nelrim watched the kid and the Hokage walk out of the Hokage's valley. The way Naruto smiled whenever he was around the old man brought memories back to the cat's mind.

_Flashback (every word said is in Spanish, I just translated some into English)_

"_Grigio," A black haired, tanned boy called out as he ran up to a tall and old Hispanic man._

_The man smiled as he dropped his bag, and picked up the boy like he was 20 instead of 80. "__Hola mocosa, ¿cómo estás," he asked._

"_Feliz! Usted está en casa!"_

"_Well, of course you little brat. You think you could get rid of me that easily?" the old man chuckled. He put the kid down, and grabbed his bag. He rifled through it, and then pulled something out, but quickly hid it behind his back. "I have a present for you, mocosa."_

"_What is it? What is it?" The kid asked excitedly._

_The man brought his hand out in front, and in his hand was a small brass ring._

_The boy's jaw dropped._

_In the __Blanco Impulsar Clan, getting a ring meant that you were ready to learn the ways of the liger and their specialty transformation. Color of the metal was not very specific; however, brass was the best conductor for their magical gifts, and as such, very highly treasured._

_Since brass was such a soft metal, you couldn't always put the symbols meant for conduction in it easily without bending the rest of the metal. As a result, the metal was very expensive, almost equal in weight of gold. However, it is worth it. Brass is a very malleable metal, and, through that property, the shape-shifters themselves learn to make their bodies bend and twist so that they can change shape. There are thousands upon thousands of shifting clans all across the world, and ligers were among the strongest and highly respected. To get a brass ring so early on, meant that the boy would become strong in the future._

_The boy slowly took the ring from the old man's hand, and gently held in it his palm. He could feel the soft hum of warm power in it as the symbols on the ring shifted slightly. The boy slowly took it to his right ear, and the ring glided through the skin until it was in the middle of the earlobe. The ring hummed with power once more as it locked to his body. The boy lowered his shaking hands, and tears started to form in his eyes with a smile on his face that no sword could wipe away. He hugged the old man around his neck. "GRACIAS! GRACIAS!"_

End flashback

Nelrim smiled sadly at the memory as his right ear twitched a little…

XXXXX

Hinata loved the smell of flowers. Her favorite had to be lilies. They had such a sweet scent.

She looked down at the garden before her. The flowers looked so happy. She had spent days upon days in this garden of hers that was given to her by her mother.

A flash of her memory showed a woman smiling down at her as she reached up to hug the woman. Petals danced in the wind around the woman. Her mother.

She had raised this garden with what she remembered from her mother and through trial and error. She had poured her love into this garden and it had shown. The guards always loved to come by and gaze upon the peaceful sight built by soft hands.

Hinata took her hand away from the lily that was the center piece of her garden. She stood up, and brushed her clothes off and looked down at her garden again.

She noticed a spot of red on one of the lily's petals. She moved her hand toward the red spot and touched the lily, and then pulled her hand back. Her finger had blood on it.

The blood spread until it covered her hand in it, she reached up with her other hand to try and get it off, but her other hand had was covered in blood as well. The blood started to fill up the garden until she had to stand to keep her mouth above the blood. Just when the blood was about to consume her, she saw something reach out for her, and she desperately tried to grab it. The figure grabbed her hand, and she thought she was saved.

The figure's eyes opened. Nothing. There was nothing but black that felt as if it would consume her soul. The figure opened its mouth wide, more so then any human could possibly achieve. She struggled to get free from its grasp. The blood was over her mouth now, and she couldn't breathe.

It descended upon her.

–

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Hinata awoke with a scream. She shivered and pulled her legs close to her body and her hands on her face not covering her eyes. One of her guards was kneeling next to her, but she couldn't hear anything he was saying. She watched his mouth move for a little while. She couldn't think. Her mind refused to go over what had just happened.

"-ta-sama! HINATA-SAMA!" The guard yelled. "Hinata-sama, what's wrong? Come on, Hinata-sama! Snap out of it!"

Hinata closed her eyes and shook her head to calm herself. The guard stopped talking to notice that she tried to mouth a few words. At first she couldn't speak, but finally she managed to get some coherent words out. "Wh-where am I," Her voice quivered as she asked. She looked around. Her vision was blurry.

"You're in the Hyuuga Gardens, Lady Hinata." The kneeling guard calmly told her, trying to calm the girl down through example. He turned and said something to the other guards, but Hinata didn't hear him as she was in her own thoughts.

_'That's right; I came out to the gardens to look over the plants.'_ "What happened?" She asked. She noticed two of the other three guards left for something.

"I don't know, Hinata-sama. One moment you were standing over the flowers, the next you collapsed. You came too just a few moments later screaming. Are you alright, Hinata-sama?" The guard asked.

Hinata lowered her head, and slowly calmed herself down telling herself it was only a dream. _"Hikaru, you there? Hikaru? Are you still asleep?"_ She called for her for a few moments, but it was no use. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself. When she finally felt calm enough to respond she said, "Thank you for looking over me, Johan-san. It was just nothing really." She told herself more then the guard.

Johan nodded, and offered his hand to help her up. She gladly took it, and slowly stood up. "Anytime, Hinata-sama. I'm glad you're alright." The other two guards came back with a wash bucket, a towel, and a blanket. When they noticed she was fine, they sighed in relief and smiled.

She felt a little dizzy. "Could you help me to my room, Johan-san? I'm feeling a bit tired."

The guard nodded. "Of course, Hinata-sama. Right this way." He took her hand and led her to her room with the other three guards following around her loosely. She glanced back at the main lily in her garden before leaving.

It was only a dream, right?

–

I looked down at Konohagakura. The air over it was always lovely, as the thousands upon thousands of trees that surrounded it made the land all that much more natural to her senses. The cloud right above me drifted slowly and lazily. I felt someone watching me, and checked around. Sure enough, Shikamaru was doing his daily cloud watching. He was looking at her, but even with heightened senses he wouldn't be able to tell who I am.

I was sitting on this world's book. It was always a comfy chair.

I turned to my left as I felt a familiar presence warp in using blood magic. Nelrim.

"_Hello, Nelrim."_

"Hello, Yosome-sama. I was looking for you ever since I felt your power, but you've been a busy deity." Nelrim said as he sat down on the book next to me and looked down at the town below.

"_Oh? And why is that?"_

"I wanted to know what you were doing here. You usually just check up on things and leave, but lately you've been meddling. I know that the one who holds Fate is a meddler, but I didn't think you would take up your hand in it, Yosome, holder of Destiny," he said slowly, as if he thought he would never utter those words.

I chuckled, _"Well, life is like that, kitty."_ Nelrim's fur bristled when I said that last word, but I acted like I didn't notice. _"You would be surprised how Father Time can change things, for he is a patient deity. I would know, his wife goes on and on about things the rest of us could care less about."_

Right when I finished saying that, a crow landed on my head and pecked it three times. _"Ow, Ow, Ow!"_ The bird then flew off.

Nelrim broke out laughing and fell off of the book. He reappeared a moment later with a stoic face, but I could see his eyes were still laughing. I glared at him for a few seconds, but I sighed.

"I hope I wouldn't need to remind you, but Mother Nature has ears everywhere. I would be careful on how you would speak about your godmother." Nelrim said with a monotone, but I could feel his laugh in it somewhere.

"_I'll get her back later by calling on a favor that the -snicker- "Oogakari" clan owes me. Now, back on topic, to answer the question you have, well… I don't need to tell you yet. My plans are my own, and they are still in the works. No one knows my true plans; however, I have been giving hints to those around Konoha. If you do realize what my plan will end with, then please be quiet about it."_

"Fair enough, Yosome-sama. Just know that I will keep an eye on Naruto for you. The little brat is a giant trouble magnet."

"_Please do. Oh, and by the way, try not to die. That's an order."_

Nelrim chuckled. "At least you're still not trying to make me your personal kitty like Death did with the two tailed demon."

I smiled at the thought. _"At least consider it. If you did become my personal kitty, I would be able to give you back your transformation abilities, including your human form."_

"And work for you for eternity? I would rather jump into a volcano." He said playfully.

"_Alright then, the option is always open."_ I giggled. He was always fun to tease lightly. I scratched him behind his ears, and he purred softly. After I dropped my hand down, he disappeared. That was our usual good-bye. I looked back over Konoha. _"Now, what shall I do next?"_

–

At the ramen bar, Naruto was busy wolfing down his twelfth bowl of ramen while the hokage was just finishing his second. When the old man put the bowl down, he spoke, "Naruto-kun, I have a favor of you to ask."

"Hm," he slurped the last of his noodles in, "What is it Oji-san?"

He considered his next words carefully. "I want you to go with your godfather to find a woman for me."

"Who is it?" Naruto asked, glee filling his eyes. He always loved going outside the village.

"I want you to find and bring back a woman named Senju Tsunade, Jiraiya's teammate." He said.

"You mean the most famous medic nin?" he asked.

"The same."

"Why? She seemed pretty adamant about not coming back to the village," Naruto thought back to his history lessons.

"Well, I need you to bring her back so that she can become the next Hokage."

Naruto's features steeled for a bit. He knew the man was on his last leg in life, but he seriously thought he could make it in time. Now that the time has come for him to finally turn in his hat, Naruto knew he couldn't take up the mantle yet. He would just have to bide his time. _'Patience.'_ Nelrim's voice echoed through his head from a past memory. _'Have patience with life, Naruto-san. Everything will come with time and work.'_ "Sure thing old man." Naruto responded with a smile.

The "Professor" was honestly surprised at the reaction. He was expecting an outburst almost. Like that Naruto should have boasted out at the top of his lungs that he was available. But he knew Naruto was better then that. Maybe in another reality where Nelrim didn't exist.

–

In another Dimension.

Naruto sneezed. He was currently hiding from the "she-devils." He had been recently transformed once more against his will, causing his fluffy fox tail and ears to come out.

Unfortunately, the two girls chasing him down heard him sneeze and dashed after him with hearts for eyes.

Shadow and Hinata.

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

–

_'Yeah,'_ the hokage thought, _'Maybe in another world.'_ "So, can you be ready to leave the village by tomorrow morning?" he received a nod. "Great, show up at the east gate at 8 in the morning."

"How long will the mission be?" Naruto asked.

"About a month or so. Give or take a week." Sarutobi replied.

"What about the scrolls Oji-san?" Naruto asked. He wanted to at least see what the first 6 were about.

The old professor lifted his arm up, and made his arm flow over the counter in front of him. "Here you go, Natuo-kun. These are yours to keep. I expect great things out of you... I know you will surpass them." On the counter appeared the six scrolls.

"Thanks, Oji-san," Naruto smiled brightly and basked in the old man's praise. Hey he was gonna take the praise where he could get it, damn it. Naruto took the six scrolls and placed each one gently onto another scroll he brought out. "FUIN!" The six scrolls disappeared in a puff of smoke. He stuffed it into his grey cloak for now.

"Well, Naruto. Go get ready. Remember this is an S-ranked mission. So don't talk about it if you can."

Naruto nodded. He got up and left with a "see ya later" to the old man and dashed off.

The old man chuckled to himself as he turned back to his ramen bowl... which was now empty.

–

"NARUTO!"

The boy heard the old man scream out. He snickered for a second glad he could get a one up on the old man. He felt a twinge of regret in the back of his head for what he did. Then squashed it when he thought of what the old man's faced must've looked like. He fell down laughing. After pulling his sides together, he ran off to get ready for the next day.

He passed by the Hyuuga mansion on the way there, and shrugged to himself. He walked up to one of the guards that was standing at attention. "Hey, can I go speak to Hinata-chan?"

One of the branch members raised his eyebrow, but then looked over to the other guard and made a twitch with his eye. The other guard then left.

_'Damn, stick up their ass people.'_ Naruto thought when he saw the interaction. He waited for a few moments before the guard came back.

"I'm sorry to inform you, Naruto-san, but Lady Hinata is resting for the day." The branch member said with a slightly stoic tone.

Naruto nodded. "Alright then, can leave a message for her saying that I'll be out of town for about a month or so?"

"I will inform Lady Hinata when the opportunity arises."

"Thanks, see ya!" Naruto yelled out when he left.

_'Better inform Shino and Kurenai-sensei, too.'_ Naruto paused for a moment. _'Wait... this is an S-ranked mission!'_

–

The next morning, we find our once blond hero running up to the gate in question. Naruto decided to change up his clothes for this mission.

He was wearing loose black pants and a skin tight dark blue muscle shirt. Over this he wore a new over coat that was dark red in design and went down his his shins. This one also had a hood which the boy wore over his head to keep the unusually hot sun from bearing down on him. On the back was the usual kanji for _sage_. None of his tails were coming out the back end like they usually did. On his back was a small bag that looked like it had a few scrolls in it, as well as one large one sitting on his lower back.

Once he arrived at the gate, he looked around to find Jiraiya. The boy sensed he was nearby through his seventh sense, but didn't know where. _'not behind, not right, not left, not in front.'_ Naruto's frown formed as he then looked up. There, the older sage was sleeping his head off in what looked to be an uncomfortable position.

"OI!" The old man was startled by the loud voice directly in his ear. "WAKE UP YOU OLD PERVERT!"

Jiraiya unceremoniously fell off the gate and onto the ground with a heavy 'thud' singing in Naruto's ears. Naruto was currently perched on the gate where the old man was. He jumped down and landed gracefully. "Good, you're awake."

Jiraiya mumbled under his breath as he got up. "So, you're finally here, brat. Good. Let's get on the road." As he checked with the guards with his pass, and pointed at the boy. The guard nodded, and the two headed out.

–

About two hours later.

"So, where are we going," Naruto asked. The two were traveling on the 'ninja high road' at high chuunin speeds.

"Our first stop will be a large village on the boarder of tea country south east from our village. We'll actually be going south of your mission from wave country. The town is called Dofugen. My spy network's track is cold at the moment for Tsunade, so I have to go where I last heard about her."

"How cold is the trail," Naruto asked wanting to get an estimate of about how long this would take.

"I got this information about seven months ago." Naruto was surprised it was that long ago. "Don't be surprised, gaki. She has her own spy network as well. How else do you think she hides from her debt collectors?"

Naruto formed and 'oh' with his mouth and looked ahead.

"After we find out where she headed next, we'll launch right away." Jiraiya was quiet for a moment. "We're going to try something out while we're doing this." He handed a small scroll to Naruto. "Here."

The blond took it and opened it. Inside was a large seal. As Naruto looked it over he came to a small conclusion. "It's a summoning seal."

"Correct, Gaki. What I'm about to tell you is something that is only told between student and master. Do NOT share this with anyone else. Not even your girlfriend. Got it?"

Naruto nodded, wondering what the big secret was.

"This is one of the most advanced theories on sealing to date. But once I tell it to you, it should click in your head just like it did with your father, mother, Sarutobi-sensei and me."

Naruto was practically giddy. It's not everyday you learn something on this level of importance.

"The secret is simple. All seals can be converted to handsigns as well as all handsigns for a jutsu can be converted into a seal. Now why is that?" A smirk appeared on his face as Naruto's eyes widened.

Naruto's mind was going a million miles an hour trying to keep up with thoughts and ideas that were streaming through his head. He actually had to stop tree hopping as it the ideas took too much of his mind.

Jiraiya knew this would happen. It always did with a being who had a large amount of potential for sealing.

Naruto was putting things together in his head as he finally got his ideas under control. He had a smile on his face that no proud mother could rival. He quickly looked at the scroll in his hands, and quickly deciphered it much faster then he had before. Everything seemed to click into place. All the studying before hand that was nearly lost to time came back full force. He quickly jumped to the ground and put the scroll on the ground. Jiraiya following right after him. The boy looked at the seal one more time, and then started performing hand seals at speeds of a high jounin. Naruto had to know if this theory would work. Ten handsigns. Twenty handsigns. Fifty handsigns. 100 handsigns. 150 handsigns. He wondered why he never saw this before. His mind was reeling in excitement as he finally understood all of the theories, all the symbols, the kanji, the lines, the MEANING. He performed the last hand sings of 250, bit his thumb and slammed it on the ground. "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"

A large puff of smoke appeared covering Naruto's form. Once it cleared, Jiraiya's smirk grew. Naruto now stood on top of Gamaken. A toad. On a contract that Naruto had no relations with. Jiraiya knew it would work.

"Jiraiya, why have I been summoned," the toad asked.

"It's nothing, Gamaken. To think though, he summoned you on his first try, and even awakened his hidden ability," Jiraiya said to both of them.

Naruto hopped down in front of the toad. "It worked... It actually worked."

"So, Naruto-kun. Do you think you understand seals now," Jiraiya asked.

"Who is this kid, Jiraiya," the toad asked.

"He was the one that summoned you," Jiraiya informed. The kid still looked lost in deep thought.

"I don't feel any contract connections to this one," the warrior toad stated.

"Hold on one moment, Gamaken. You can relax your guard for now. No enemies are nearby. I have to tell the gaki something, and then you can go back once I give a message to you."

"Hai, Jiraiya-san," the toad stated before he put his shield and sword back.

"Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze," Jiraiya said aloud. The toad's eyes widened as the boy looked to his mentor.

"Yea?"

"Tell me, how did you reach the conclusion about the hand signs and the seals? How did you know how it would work?" Jiraiya asked with a smirk on his face. If the boy answered correctly, there would be _another_ seals master in town.

"I first remembered back to how the handsigns changed the chakra flow slightly. Through that, and the theory you just told me, I focused on how the chakra would flow through the seal itself. That's how I figured it out. The similarity between the two was the flow of chakra. I just proved that with this case as I took a seal of unknown origin, and studied how it flowed, then I copied and translated that into handsigns. Once I did that, it was quite easy to make my chakra flow in the right way. It's a lot more complicated then that, but I don't want to go into an hour long discussion, but it all comes down to the same conclusion. The reason why both seals and handsigns can be made into one another is that they only alter the flow of chakra," He declared.

Jiraiya nodded. "Correct. Now Naruto, I have been giving you all of those seal books knowing that you would have them teeter on the edge of your memory this entire time. I gave you one book after another in a certain order. I even made you go back and look over the same books a few times. I knew that eventually I would give you this secret, but to think that just after I said that you unlocked the secret to your bloodline."

Naruto was confused. "What do you mean? Kagedoushinkai?"

"No, Uzumaki. Your other one. Your mother's side."

"Secret bloodline?"

"Yes. If it were me, Sarutobi, or your father, Minato, it would have taken use nearly four days to do the same thing you just did. You have your mother's talent. You have one of the most secret bloodlines in the world, Naruto. The Shi-Ryuu_(Flowing seal)_."

"Shi-Ryuu." Naruto tested out the name. Instantly, the world changed around him. Time didn't speed up or slow down. The air didn't change. The only thing that changed was the blond's perspective of the world around him. He stared in wonder at how seemingly an infinite number of seals appeared everywhere. On the trees, in the sky, on the clouds, on the ground on his clothes, on the toad before him. He could SEE them but at the same time he couldn't FOCUS on them either. As soon as he looked at a particular seal on the ground, it would get hazy and be unreadable. He quickly looked at the seal in the scroll that Jiraiya gave him, and he instantly saw how inefficient the seal was. Where it could be modified to enhance the focus of the chakra and produce a slightly stronger outcome. Somehow, the boy knew that from now on, he would be able to recall this exact seal and the versions of it he created would be accessible to him from now on. He pulled out one of his other scrolls that stored his explosive tags. He went to unseal the tags, when he noted the storage seal itself. It, too, was forever ingrained into his mind as well as upgraded versions. He then unsealed the tags from his, in his opinion, crudely drawn storage seal, and looked at them. He instantly noted all of the version he ever created from his practicing, and then found how he could improve them and make them stronger or more efficient. He quickly took his over coat off, and then lifted up his muscle shirt to look at his now exposed belly. He was instantly lost in many theories about the seal itself. How it worked. It's hidden functions. The power to work it. It was all laid bare before Naruto. But he didn't understand it all.

Naruto then put his muscle shirt back on. He wasn't done memorizing it, but he knew he would get a headache from looking at it too long. So much information in one little seal. He was actually surprised when he saw that the visible part was only one SMALL portion of the actual seal. In reality... he quickly looked at his arms, and lifted up his pant legs... in reality, the seal covered his WHOLE BODY! He grabbed another of his storage scrolls again, and unsealed a small mirror. He looked at his face, and moved his head from side to side. All over his face was an intricate design that belong to the now large body seal. He noted that the place where the fox's mind and soul was ACTUALLY located on the base of his neck, and that lines flowed out from it in a sealing pattern far beyond his own abilities. He noted how the point that was on his stomach was actually the center control point, thus being the only part that was able to become visible.

He came to a conclusion just then. When he stated that he was a walking fuinjutsu, he had no idea how RIGHT that actually was! Even his hands had seal lines flowing along them.

He heard a large poof go off behind him, and the world changed back to normal as his concentration was broken now. Behind him was Jiraiya standing near a bit of lingering smoke where the toad had been.

"So," Jiraiya started as he walked back over to Naruto, "How was your first trip into the world of seals?"

"Amazing." The boy said meaning every bit of the word. He was about to go into a rave about what he had just learned when the man put his hand over the boy's mouth.

"Stop. If you're about to go into a long explanation like you mother did every time she came out of it, then there's a good chance you'll lose me. Better just to save your breath alright?" The boy nodded, and the man slowly pulled his hand away, as if afraid of the inevitable. Surprise went across the man's face as the boy didn't do what he had feared. A snore lecture. "Right then. I guess you're ready to learn more advanced seals?" The boy nodded. "Good, then I'll be giving you seals when we finally take a break tonight. It takes a while for the bloodline to actually activate, and when it does, I want you to look at those seals."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. "Doesn't it activate on command?" He put his coat back on.

Jiraiya sighed, "That's one of the downsides to this bloodline. It only activates temporarily and randomly."

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. _'Weird. Why does the bloodline do that?'_ he asked mentally.

"No one knows why it does that. They were trying for a long time to figure out how to make it so that it could be activated by command," Jiraiya answered the unasked question.

Naruto looked down at the storage scroll. "So what's this thing you want to try out?"

Jiraiya smirked. "I heard that you can travel at super sonic speeds. I never got to see it all for myself, but how long can you travel at that speed?"

Naruto scrunched his forehead in concentration as he tried to think of how long he could hold it. "I dunno, maybe half an hour? Then I'd have to sit down and rest for a while."

Jiraiya held his hand to his mouth as he did a few mathematical calculations. "You should be able to get to anywhere in fire country within minutes at super sonic speeds, and that's what we'll need."

"What do you have planned?"

Jiraiya smirked. He pulled out another scroll and tossed it to the boy. "Here gaki, look at this."

Naruto caught it and opened it. He looked it over, and realized that it was a summoning scroll meant for a specific toad. "What do I do with this?"

"When we get to town, we'll see my contacts. Once I find out our next lead, I'll give you the town's name and location on a map that I'll provide. You'll use your super sonic speed jutsu, or whatever you call it and make it to just outside of your destination, and then channel chakra into that scroll. A toad and I will pop up once you do. This way we can cut that 7 months cold trail down in no time," Jiraiya exclaimed.

"But I've never used Taishissou_(Great dash)_ for long distances before. And when I did use it to travel a long way back in the forest of death, I had tunnel vision. I almost turned myself into a pancake!"

Jiraiya looked confused at this. "Your father never had a problem when he used the Hiraishin."

Naruto looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"The Hiraishin was sort of a tunneling time-space seal. He would have a seal planted in a location. He would think of the location that the seal was in, and then activated both ends of the seal. I don't know how it worked other then that. But I do know he had to use his bloodline to make sure that he had enough time to calculate everything."

Naruto quirked his brows. "Huh?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Have you tried using your bloodline in minute amounts to counter the tunnel vision?"

Naruto palmed his forehead.

"Feel like an idiot now?"

"That's what Nelrim meant by using your head." Naruto mumbled. "Yeah, I got it now. It'll be cool to actually go that far in a matter of minutes."

Jiraiya nodded, though a smirk was present on his face. "Anyways, gaki," he pointed behind him, "We'll get into town. You go ahead and head over to the Serion restaurant. I'll meet up with you there in a couple hours." He pulled the big scroll to the front of him, and opened it up. He unsealed a few things from inside of it. "Here, kid. You study these. Now that you've unlocked your bloodline, you'll be able to understand these a bit easier now. Study them all, and don't use your clones for this part. You need to memorize this stuff in the order that they come in," he said as he handed two scrolls. They were marked one and two.

Naruto nodded as he took them, "I'll see you in a while then."

–

A clone of Sarutobi entered the Hokage's office. He sighed as this felt like the millionth time he had walked into this office. _'Oh well, time to get to work.'_

An hour later, just as he was about to slap a big fat NO on a document that would give the council more power, he heard a knock. "Enter," he slammed the stamp onto the paper and put it to the side three individuals walked in.

In walked Chouji and Lee, the new tokubetsu chuunin, as well as an older tokubetsu chuunin named Nii Seiyu. The 14 year old girl had long blond hair and dark brown eyes just like her older sister. "You needed us, Hokage-sama," the girl asked.

"Yes, I called you here today to tell you about your responsibilities as sub-leaders of your teams," he said as he saw Seiyu light up at the chance of getting a team.

–

Sasuke's PoV

Sasuke had been dangling for the past two days now. He had fainted several times due to severe blood pressure going through his skull, and he was sure his foot had turned black... Why hadn't anyone come to look for him?

He heard a giggle go through the air. FINALLY! He was going to run that girl through with a fire technique as soon as he was let down.

"_So,"_ the girl said as she appeared in front of him again... in the EXACT same spot, _"Are you ready to be polite now,"_ she asked in a sweet tone.

Sasuke swallowed his pride, "Please let me down."

"_There you go,"_ she said as he felt himself get turned right side up and then lowered to the ground gently, _"Now was that so hard?"_

"Yes."

She giggled at his answer. _"Now, are you ready to get the answer to your heart's question?"_

He had to swallow both his pride and his bile as he thought about what he had to say, "Please tell me why Naruto is so strong," he said in a sweet voice of his own.

"_Much better. I can see that the blood finally got through to your brain. Anyways,"_ She snapped her finger, and the book she was sitting on levitated from beneath her to in front of him. The book opened up at another snap of her fingers, and a bright light consumed him.

–

Naruto was sitting at the Serion restaurant waiting for the old pervert to show up. He had already eaten his fill, and took to studying the book. Once in a while, he would activate his bloodline in a subtle manner and slowed down the world around him. He was careful not to move his own arms too fast. After sitting like that for five minutes in real time and 20 minutes in his time, he would deactivate his bloodline. All this time he would be studying his book. It was the second one named "B" as the first one was called "A" from scroll number 1. He took a peak, and saw that there was all the way up to "Y" in the first scroll and the second scroll had only 8. A-F and then S and SS with F coming first. He figured that it was rank order of seals.

He had to say, now that he knew the secret, all of these theories and ideas had become much easier to grasp. The Kanji also had become easier to understand as he figured out that they are the key to how the chakra moves. He thought of several things and ideas, but he probably should get them inspected by Jiraiya before he put them in use.

He looked up as he felt the old man's signature walk into the room. "Heya, Ero-ji-san!" He yelled out.

Half the ladies now looked at the old man in disgust. He mumbled ho he was gonna kill a certain brat slowly and painfully. "Hey, gaki. Come, let's get moving I Know where the next town to look for is."

Out side the town they stopped.

He pulled out a map that had writing on it. "Here ya go, Gaki," he pointed to a spot on the map. "This is where we are now," he pointed to another spot, "This is where you'll go. Remember, stop about a mile outside of this town called Shijou. Take out the scroll and pour chakra into it. You'll need quite a bit because you'll be summoning and another toad named Shima. She's a toad elder, which means it takes a lot of chakra to summon her. She'll be the one to actually summon me where you are."

Naruto nodded. He knew about elder's as he had taken the time to get to know them when he was training to be a sage. Though they were the fox kind. "Alright. I know about elder's somewhat from my own summoning clan. I guess I'll get ready to take off."

Jiraiya nodded, and backed up a bit. He wanted to see this jutsu full scale. It's not everyday you get to see something that literally breaks the sound barrier.

Naruto got into a stable stance that would let him be propelled forward. He put up his hands into a ram sign and yelled "KAI!" he had dropped his gravity and chakra seals all at once. He took a moment to get use to feeling lighter then usual as he brought his chakra under control once more. He started to gather the energy needed for the initial boost.

Jiraiya's eyes widened as he felt the power surge that is Naruto. He felt a large amount of the energy then be forced into dense areas on his back and legs.

"Taishissou," Naruto muttered.

To all of Jiraiya's sense, the boy just disappeared completely. The only evidence that the boy was even there was a small whip of a dust cloud where he had been just a moment ago. Jiraiya then performed a few handsigns. And summoned a small frog. "Hey, Gamakichi."

"Heya Jiraiya, whatcha need?"

"Can you tell Shima that she needs to reverse summon me now?"

"Sure thing, Jiraiya!" he then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

A few moments later, Jiraiya disappeared as well in a poof of smoke.

–

Naruto felt great.

He was using his bloodline to slow down time just a smidgen. It got rid of the tunnel vision but it still felt like he was flying through the air. He was jumping along the coast line now. The Taishissou was indeed a super sonic speed booster, but that's just the beginning. After the intial boost all Naruto only had to use just a fraction of chakra to keep it going at the same speed.

To anyone else he was just a low rumble a few seconds after he was actually there. Funny thing is, Itachi felt Naruto go right by him, and then felt and heard a low rumble that was hard to hear. He stopped, and turned around.

"What's up, Itachi?" Kisame looked at him.

Itachi kept quiet, but started to run after Naruto in the direction that the blond had just gone in.

"Seriously. Did you even talk to your mother at all?" was all Kisame said before running after him.

–

Naruto had found the town quite easily, and did as he was instructed. He had poured a lot of chakra into the scroll. After he did that, nothing happened for a moment, but he knew it was enough. He took the time to reactivate the seals on his body that he used for training. He then pulled out the book he was currently studying.

A few moments later, Naruto heard a couple of small bangs go off, and looked up. There stood Jiraiya and a small toad that looked old.

"Good job brat. You actually called us faster then we anticipated." Jiraiya said.

The toad walked up to Naruto. "So you're the one, eh? Doesn't look like much. Are you sure he's eating enough, Jiraiya-gaki?"

Jiraiya felt a stabbing pain in his wallet. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Who are you?" Naruto asked as he bent down.

"The name's Shima, lad. It's good to meet the kid that Jiraiya has been going on about. Oh, and I see that you're a sage as well! Jiraiya why didn't you tell me you had a sage friend."

"Shima," Jiraiya said in an exasperated tone.

"So, which clan are you a sage of?" Shima asked, ignoring Jiraiya.

"Um, the kitsune clan." Naruto said.

"Oh my. Been a while since they chose a summoner for them. A long time. You must be the second ever seen! Ah, I got to go! Lunch will be burning if I don't hurry back! Bye!" She poofed out.

Naruto stared at where she was. "Weird."

"Yeah, they're all like that. But they're good souls," Jiraiya said with a smile, "Even if her cooking could kill," Jiraiya shivered for a moment. "Anyways, let's go, gaki. It'll be a few hours this time as well. Just meet at Silk's Will in two hours. It's a small shop at the south end of the city."

Naruto nodded, and the two entered the city.

–

The book closed slowly as Sasuke's eyes got used to the amount of light again. He couldn't believe what he had seen. It was just unreal what the 'dobe' had done.

Sasuke looked at the girl, "There's no way Naruto could ever get that powerful. He's just a dobe." was all the boy said before looking at the girl.

"_Well, to be truthful, that time line never existed. But, if all had been as predicted, it would've been true,"_ the girl responded, _"however, I don't know which time line's Naruto is more powerful at this exact moment. The Naruto you see now, or the Naruto in this book,"_ she said as she tapped it with a finger.

"So, may I have the _Honor_ of asking who the lady is before me." Sasuke said. He wanted to puke, he truly truly did.

"_Hehehe, no, you don't. And to answer your unasked question, no I'm not a doll, nor am I dead. My power runs on a different wavelength then what your eyes are attuned to, therefore you can't see it."_ She smirked. _"Now, enough about me. I know you have other questions."_

"Yeah, I do. Why, in that world, am I stronger then I am in reality?"

She giggled as if this was all a game to her. _"Yes, that is the true question for the ages. Think, Sasuke. Use that brain of yours. What did that Sasuke have that you don't?"_ She asked. _"I'll give you a hint. Even a little girl can see through you and find your true strength."_ with that she disappeared, her giggle echoing through the air.

At that moment he felt a presence appear next to him. He looked to see that it was an ANBU. "Uchiha Sasuke. You are to meet your new team in one hour at the academy. You are in team 7. Good day." with that he left.

_'Team 7 again? Let's hope that I get people who can actually help me.'_ he said as he walked off towards the academy.

He needed to train. He needed to figure out what she meant by a little girl seeing through him.

–

Asuma let out a breath as he was finally able to release the genjutsu placed on him. He collapsed onto the bar counter he was sitting at. He weakly got up, but fell over as soon as he stood up fully. "Help!" He called out on his way down. Instantly several nin caught him before he hit the floor.

"What's wrong?" a generic chunin asked.

"Tell the Hokage, that the 'red clouds' are on the move for the ninth," was all he said before he passed out from shock.

"MEDIC!"

–

"Hokage-sama!" a chunin burst into his office yelling.

The Hokage looked up. "What is it?"

"Jounin Sarutobi Asuma collapsed from shock. He only said a few words before he passed out from shock," he said.

"What were those words," Sarutobi was worried at this point. Not much can put a jounin into shock.

"He said some thing about "the 'red clouds' are on the move for the ninth." Do you know what that means?"

The Hokage nodded. He told the chunin to report to him if any changes occurred to his son. On the outside, he was calm and collected, breathing nice and evenly. But on this inside, his mind was on overdrive. He knew this would make trouble for the boss. He created a shadow clone, and then dispelled it to tell his boss.

–

Sarutobi stopped in mid-swing as he received the knowledge the dispelled clone gave. His fist was exactly one inch away from the dummies face in his own private training grounds.

One word escaped his mouth. "Shit."

He dashed into the house to get his Hokage robes on and then made a beeline for the exit to the hokage's valley.

–

The double doors burst wide open as he ran into the hospital full tilt. He went right by the receptionist desk and into the personal wing for certain ninjas.

He slowed as he made it the room designated for the Sarutobi family. He opened the door quietly as he walked in. On the bed was his boy. He walked up to check the body with his senses and sighed in relief as it didn't seem that his son's life was in danger. He knew full well that a ninja's life was full of hazards. He just wanted at least ONE of his kid's to outlive him and have a family.

A nurse walked in a moment later and was startled by the sight of the Hokage being in the room. "Hokage-sama." was all she said and then went to work on the machines designated for him. "We did the preliminary check on him. All vitals are normal, and there is no poison in his blood. Blood flow is unrestricted, and he seems to be just fine."

"So why is he in shock?" the old man asked.

"We don't know," she replied, and then she left the room.

He was quiet for a moment. He motioned to one of the corners in the room. An ANBU bowed as he disengaged his cloak. "Bring me Yamanaka Inoichi. Priority 2."

"Hah!" the ANBU said and disappeared.

A few minutes later, Inoichi came into the room along with the ANBU. "You called, Hokage-sama?"

"Can you do a full mental scan on Asuma here," he asked. It was for the safety of the village. He can do this.

The blond man nodded, and moved to the downed man's side. He did a few quick handsigns, and put his hand on the forehead.

The old man waited patiently for the Yamanaka to finish. An hour later the Yamanka came out of it. "Well," he swallowed, "He's going to be alright, but he'll be in a coma for a few days," got up and wiped the sweat from his brow. "He came into contact with one Uchiha Itachi who used a Sharingan technique called Tsukuyomi. There he was tortured for information, and Asuma just muttered that Naruto had left the village. After that, he was placed into a high A-ranked Genjutsu that took him four hours to undo. The stress on his mind sent him into a coma to hopefully repair the damage done to him," The clan head stated.

"Is that all?" He asked.

"Itachi was traveling with a strange person, but I couldn't see much. Just blue skin and a large object on his back. Other then that, I can't get anything else out of him."

Hiruzen nodded. "All information that you gathered from his mind is an S-ranked secret. Please do not indulge that out."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," he nodded, "As always."

"Then you are free to go. Thank you, Inoichi."

The Yamanaka left the room as the Hokage looked over his son. With him out of danger the Hokage's mind was now trying to figure out what to do for Naruto's safety. He may be strong, but not strong enough to fight an S-ranked missing nin and an unknown partner despite having Jiraiya at his side. He left the and told the nurse at the receptionist desk to tell him if any changes occur to his son immediately.

With that he walked out the front door to the hospital. He narrowed his eyes on the actions he could take. All of his squad ANBU were out for missions or were not in the shape he required for this sort of mission. He needed something more along the lines of a shadow. He took off to the private residence district.

Halfway across the village later, The Hokage stopped in front of a small but roomy home. He just stood there for a few minutes, and then spoke, "In times of need, you said I should call you, my old teammate."

"Indeed I did, Sarutobi," a voice called back as Shimura Danzo walked out of the shadows of a tree right by his house.

The Hokage made three signs, and then channeled his chakra. The two were now surrounded by nothing but pitch black darkness. Danzo did not look surprised by this action. "It's been a long time, since we discussed using this old Genjutsu. We talked all the time using this thing. By my account, you are still the only one able to do it. How, I don't know."

"As I said every time, it's an old Sarutobi secret. Now, I need the use of the roots of Konoha."

Danzo's one eye narrowed.

"Oh don't act surprised that I know this, Danzo. I used to always beat you at strategy games. You didn't think I would just let go of a program that worked, did you? I don't agree with the morals of this system, but I do agree to keeping this village safe. With that in mind, I made my moves as such to make sure that you still existed, but your presence was minimal. You trained your soldiers better instead of going for quality. It also gave you the boost of a lifetime making people believe that ROOT is gone so you could work more easily from the shadows." The Hokage explained.

Danzo just sighed. "Why I was never able to beat you, I don't know. It's so infuriating to always lose to the monkey."

The Hokage chuckled, "Yes, but I didn't call you here to explain my moves nor to talk about the past. I called you here because I need your help keeping the nine tailed fox out of enemy hands. And more importantly, one of the strongest ninja of the next generation alive."

Danzo looked on, "What do you mean? You sent him off with Jiraiya correct?"

"Yes, but it looks likes there was a player that moved out of turn. The Akatsuki."

Danzo's eye stared straight. "Are you saying that they have already made their move? I was led to believe they would be quiet for a few more years."

"As was I, but my son just had an encounter with two of them today," Sarutobi said.

"I was wondering what could put a jounin into a hospital," he said.

Sarutobi nodded, "Yes, and now the part where I ask for your assistance. I want you to send a small squad that has high amounts of stealth and speed. They will need it to catch up and intercept Itachi."

Danzo's eye winces, "Is Itachi still in on your plans?"

"Yes, but for all accounts and purposes, he must still act the predator as he has a member with him at all times. One who I don't know. Intercept him and make him back off. This is something that I can't do due to political standards. That is why I had you hide. So that you could take the missions that would otherwise ruin us," Sarutobi said.

"And why would the capture of one Namikaze Naruto be something that would be a danger to the village?" Danzo, always one for facts.

"From what I know, the Akatsuki want Naruto for something. What that is, I don't know exactly. All I do now is that something that requires all of the spirits then it would have a devastating effect on the village. Possibly wiping out all of the hidden villages at once," Sarutobi said.

"I'll do it on one term," said Danzo slowly.

"And that is?"

"Change the the patrol squad's route three degrees north at sector 73."

"You will guard this slight change, correct?" Saurtobi narrowed his eyes. The task he asked would leave a big enough gap for enemies to get through the defenses. Too big in his mind.

"Yes, it will also allow more freedom for my squads. I will have my own patrol set up there to block the hole through the ground."

"Alright. I do this in hopes that the leaves and the roots may still work together, even if it is secretly," Sarutobi held out his hand.

"Agreed," Danzo took his hand, and the genjutsu was released as both parties disappeared.

In reality, only a few seconds had passed by as this conversation took place. To any outsider, it would look like the Hokage and Danzo just met, shook hands and left under the afternoon sun.

–

Naruto had spent the time he could at a nice looking tree to study under. He was coming to conclusions he long discarded as impossible. He looked long and hard at the book in his hand. Could he really do that? Would it be possible? He would need to learn more seals.

He looked up at the time. He was a five minute walk from that strange Silk's Will place. Silk wasn't sold there, but lots of ladies went in and out of it for some reason. He shrugged. Adults are weird.

He got up, and brushed the back of his coat off as he walked over to the store. Jiraiya stood in font of it. "Good, right on time, gaki. We have the next location."

–

TBC...

Well that's it for now, folks. Read, worship the log, and review.

…

Yea, I got nothing really witty to say... Brain's technically fried due to damn essays I have to write.


	22. Author's Notice

Author's note:

First off, I just want to say, I'm not dead... yet.

Secondly, I've been thinking it over and over again, and I've been going back over my story Silver Flash.

I noticed that I've messed up royally in some parts around the story. To fix these mistakes, and to straighten out my plot line, I'd have to start from the beginning. The way things are going now, my ending will never happen. Besides, I think I've grown somewhat in my ability to write... somewhat.

I've put a poll out on my profile.

Yes, to redo the story.

No, to not to.

The poll will be out for 2 weeks. Please vote inside of that time.

If it comes down that the redo will go through, and you can think of things that would make the story better, then PM me. I will give the thought consideration unless it's pure BS or it conflicts greatly with my donnée.

Speaking of donnée, I've gotten better at doing just that.

For people who want to know what that means... in french it means "something given". In literary terms it means something else: The set of rules created by the author.

I admit, I broke my own rules a few times while creating all of my currently posted stories(I have two stories still being created in the background, and yes Fang 'that' one is one of them). Well, maybe not science v. magic, but that one was a pure bust anyways.

Alright that's it for now,

Ja ne.


End file.
